The Lakers don't have concrete plans to meet with Kevin Durant, but they haven't lost hope about a face-to-face pitch, either.
With July 1 finally arriving on Friday, the forward has a long list of teams he intends to meet with as the free agency period begins, but the Lakers aren't one of them. Still, Los Angeles remains confident it will get together with Durant once free agency hits.
Durant is slated to meet with his current team the Thunder, who entered the offseason as the consensus favorite to maintain his services.
Oklahoma City will have plenty of competition, however, as the defending Western Conference champion Warriors are also on a list that includes the Spurs, Heat, Celtics and Clippers. Reports have also surfaced that the Knicks and Rockets are interested in gaining a meeting with Durant.
The Lakers also remain confident they'll land a meeting.
"I can't imagine Durant wouldn't talk to us," a source with knowledge of the Lakers' thinking said, according to ESPN. "That would shock me."
Los Angeles is coming off of a season where it finished 17-65, setting a franchise-low for futility for the third straight season. Still, the club remains confident it has a sound pitch for Durant.
The Lakers have north of $70 million in cap space, according to Spotrac, giving them the ability to recruit multiple free agents to surround Durant, who could fill the void left by Kobe Bryant.
Los Angeles also has plenty of promising young and talented players on its roster, and there is a lot of confidence in new head coach Luke Walton.
"We want to pitch guys on combinations, as opposed to just one guy," the source said. "We'll say to a guy, 'Who do you want to play with? We've got the room to go get him.'"
Durant, 27, has spent his entire nine-year career with the Thunder after being drafted in the second round by them back when they were the SuperSonics based in Seattle.
The 2014 MVP and seven-time All-Star has averaged 27.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game throughout his career.
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