DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry Interested In Joining Lakers

July 23, 2021

Spurs shooting guard DeMar DeRozan and Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry are both interested in joining the Lakers in free agency this summer, per Broderick Thomas of the Los Angeles Times.

Both players are unrestricted free agents, able to sign wherever they wish. Both also have been linked to several teams, and others will certainly be able to pay them more at the moment than the capped-out Lakers.

That said, Turner cited sources as saying DeRozan would be willing to take a discount to join his hometown club and play alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. DeRozan is a native of Compton and played college ball at USC.

DeRozan and Lowry, of course, are former backcourt teammates with the Raptors.

Without question, the Lakers are in the market for a veteran playmaker and were linked to Wizards star Russell Westbrook and Suns point guard Chris Paul earlier this week — though the possibility of landing either of those players, at this point, is little more than a pipe dream.

As Marc Stein of the New York Times wrote, “severe salary-cap constraints will make it extremely challenging for the Lakers to acquire the secondary creator they covet.”

And again, landing DeRozan or Lowry would be easy task, either.

“Unless DeRozan or Lowry is willing to accept a deal in the range of the mid-level exception to join the Lakers, a sign-and-trade would likely be necessary to accommodate one or the other,” wrote Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors. “The Lakers would need the cooperation of the Spurs or Raptors to complete a sign-and-trade and would be hard-capped at the tax apron for the 2021/22 season as a result.”

Turner added that Nets free agent guard Spencer Dinwiddie is another player interested in joining the Lakers, but he is expected to have many suitors and may not be real high on LA’s list, given the obstacles that would need to be overcome to sign him.

Lakers point guards Dennis Schroder and Alex Caruso are both set to enter free agency, and while there is talk Schroder could move on, there is some belief that he will eventually accept a deal to return.