(L-R) Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James deliver their opening speech during the 2016 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles. (Photo : Getty Images / Kevin Winter)
The Los Angeles Lakers have put themselves in prime position to acquire LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade once they all become free-agents in two years time.
The Lakers, who are about to start a new era without Kobe Bryant this coming 2016-17 season, have done an excellent job acquiring promising young talents who could grow into elite players in the next 2-3 years.
Although the Lakers aren't anymore a machine when it comes to attracting big free-agents the past few years, things are nevertheless looking up and up for the purple-and-gold with guys like D'Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and Brandon Ingram leading the charge.
LeBron and the Brotherhood:
James recently announced his new contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers worth $100 million over three years, launching him to the top as the highest-paid player in the league.
The deal is supposed to give everybody an impression the four-time NBA MVP will play the remainder of his career in Cavs uniform, but a player option after the second year suggests the King is still leaving the door open for the possibility of playing with another team.
While the Lakers attempted and failed to sign a marquee free-agents several times already, the odds of the franchise landing an All-Star, even more an MVP-caliber talent, remains high.
This only means the likelihood of LeBron playing for the Lakers is still there. As a matter of fact, the speculation got more traction after James bought a vacation house in Los Angeles for roughly $21 million last November.
It's known already that James wants to team up with Wade, Anthony and Paul before they hang up their sneakers for good.
The summer of 2018 appears to be the earliest the Brotherhood could join forces with Melo's contract with the Knicks expiring and LeBron can opt out from the final year of his deal.
Wade could also become a free-agent at that time, should he play the full two years of his contract with the Bulls, while Paul will likely sign a one-year deal next year that would allow him to be a free-agent the following season.
Anthony also expressed his desire to form a super team with his NBA brothers, but on a condition it must happen in a warm place.
Right now, Miami and Los Angeles are the two feasible locations for LeBron James and company largely because of its tropical climate. However, Wade's messy breakup with the Heat organization put the two Los Angeles teams - Lakers and Clippers - in the forefront.
While it will all boil down to which team that can create enough cap space to absorb their contracts, the Lakers are at an advantage since they already have a nice core of youngsters and all still on a Rookie deal.
Indeed, it's going to be a bumpy ride for the Lakers and its fans in the next two years, but where or not they are able to pull off that big coup in 2018, the future is certainly brighter for the most popular franchise in the NBA.
