Sources: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rajon Rondo meet with Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers met with free agents Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on Tuesday, sources told ESPN.
Rondo, who played for the Chicago Bulls last season, met with Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson, sources said. Signing the free agent could fulfill the Lakers' desire to acquire a point guard on a one-year deal. The team drafted point guard Lonzo Ball with the No. 2 overall pick in this year's draft.
Caldwell-Pope's meeting came as he considers options after the Detroit Pistons elected to make him an unrestricted free agent last week.Several teams that previously were hesitant to pursue Caldwell-Pope have gotten engaged with him after the Pistons removed the threat of matching, sources said. Other teams in talks with Caldwell-Pope that have some cap space have been looking to create more, sources said.
The Lakers currently have $17 million in cap space but can get to $18.3 million in space. They are interested in doing one-year deals to protect their cap space in 2018, when the free-agent market will be loaded with stars.
At age 24 and known as a strong defender, Caldwell-Pope is currently regarded as the top free agent on the market. The four-year veteran out of Georgia averaged 13.8 points and 3.3 rebounds for the Pistons last season.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19966018/los-angeles-lakers-met-rajon-rondo-kentavious-caldwell-pope