Lakers Rumors: Playing Fact or Fiction with Latest Buzz Ahead of NBA Free Agency (2024)

The Los Angeles Lakers' climb to the 2023-24 NBA championship starts now.

They have a title-winning foundation in place with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. That dynamic duo already raised one championship banner together in 2020, and they just spearheaded a second-half sprint that lasted until the Western Conference Finals.

They can carry a capable roster past the finish line. So, it falls on the front office to use the upcoming free-agency period to make this a capable supporting cast.

With several avenues at their disposal, all kinds of rumors are swirling around this squad. There's so much buzz, in fact, that it can be tricky to decipher what's real and what isn't.

Luckily, we have our always reliable smell test on deck to play a round of fact or fiction involving the latest rumors involving the Purple and Gold.

The Rumor: The Lakers have "significant interest" in Denver Nuggets swingman Bruce Brown, per Mike Singer of the Denver Post.

The Verdict: Fact.

Among the many contributors to Denver's title run, Brown has long loomed as the likeliest to depart this offseason. The Nuggets are limited to offering him around $7.8 million, as Singer noted, which is well short of what he could reasonably expect to fetch on the open market.

Rival suitors could value the 26-year-old well above that pay rate. As Singer relayed, the Lakers could put the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception (worth approximately $12.4 million) on the table.

Now, saying this is fact isn't the same as saying Brown will be a Laker next season. It is, however, conceivable that he holds a prominent place on their wish list and will sign for more money than the Nuggets can pay—whether that's coming from L.A. or somewhere else.

Because there are so many unknowns in free agency, it'd be safer to wager the field over the Lakers in terms of who will actually sign Brown. But if you boiled the bet down to just Denver or L.A., the Lakers would be the favorites.

The Rumor: Fred VanVleet, a previously rumored target of the Lakers, could be offered a max salary on a two-year contract by the Houston Rockets, per NBA insider Marc Stein.

The Verdict: Fact.

Before digging too deep into this rumor, it's worth examining why this is relevant to the Lakers. After all, VanVleet has spent his entire career with the Toronto Raptors and might now have a huge offer coming his way from the Rockets.

Why does this matter to L.A.? Because, as HoopsHype's Michael Scotto previously reported, the Lakers have been among the four non-Raptors suitors "linked to VanVleet."

From L.A.'s side of things, the 29-year-old always felt like a long-shot target. Covering the cost of his next contract would've been tricky with James and Davis on the books, particularly if the Lakers were hoping to re-sign some of the support players who contributed to that late-season surge.

One could argue VanVleet's two-way talent may have been worth it anyway, but it never seemed likely the Lakers would sacrifice their flexibility for him.

Now, as for this rumored offer from Houston, we're absolutely buying the possibility. The Rockets have tons of money to spend and need playmaking, shooting and tone-setting defense. VanVleet could check all three boxes.

Because Houston's young roster might not be ready to launch even with a seasoned lead guard, though, it would make sense for the Rockets to keep this as a short-term deal in case they need to pull the plug at some point.

The only way to get VanVleet to potentially agree to a short deal, though, would be blowing up his annual pay rate, as Houston is apparently ready to do.

The Rumor: The Lakers are "planning to re-sign" D'Angelo Russell, per The Athletic's Jovan Buha.

The Verdict: Half-truth.

There were a million different reasons to wonder whether the Lakers would be ready and willing to move on from Russell this offseason.

Not the least of them was his disappearing act in the playoffs. His shaky shooting and leaky defense got so bad that L.A. resorted to bringing him off the bench for the first time in the team's final postseason game. He logged fewer than 15 minutes in that contest, finishing with four points on four shots, two assists and a turnover.

His playoff struggles were damaging to the point that it was easy to envision the Lakers making it a priority to find his replacement this summer. That's why we've heard so many rumblings about potential big-fish targets, like VanVleet and James' old championship co-star Kyrie Irving.

For the record, Russell, 27, is much more likely to sign with L.A. than either of those players. Still, the Lakers owe it to themselves and their stars to do their due diligence and see how feasible it is to find an upgraded floor general.

That's why, even though he could absolutely re-sign with the Lakers, it's hard to label this as anything more than a half-truth. The outcome of a Russell return wouldn't be shocking, but it would be surprising if L.A. went into free agency with him as the Plan A at point guard.