The LA Lakers have the most cap space in the league and is expected to aggressively shop for a center and a wing scorer this offseason.
One of their obvious targets is Hassan Whiteside. He has developed into a beast, leading the league in blocked shots. The former NBA journeyman is playing with deep motivation to gain respect, fame and of course, the money. All of which the Lakers can offer being a big market team with the willingness and desperation to improve their roster.
So why not Whiteside?
It's because the notion that the Miami Heat cannot afford to give him a max contract is erroneous. It was previously discussed by Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel who mentioned that the Heat needs to bite into their limited cap space to offer the max to Whiteside. After that, there would be slim pickings left to build the rest of the roster.
However, the Heat, including President Pat Riley has changed their stance from "what else can we do if we max Whiteside?" to "max Whiteside to keep him, we'll figure out the rest later." The Lakers can make the offer, but of all teams, they know that it's difficult to outbid Riley once he sets his mind on something.
Also, the Heat have had success with fringe players this season: guys like Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson and Briane Weber have become surprise contributors. This will give the Heat some cheap talent and also the confidence to explore the minimum market once they're capped out.
Why Horford?
Horford is a veteran who has calmly led the Hawks to the playoffs year-in and year out. He is an efficient small-ball center who plays hard without much drama-something the Lakers have had too much of this season. Horford represents the formula that Tinseltown needs-more wins, less drama.
The Lakers actually considered trading for him as in this report from Lake Show Life but it was not known how far those rumored talks actually reached.
As the Lakers have youth in every position, they need a veteran winner like Horford to be their anchor.
Another reason is that Horford could be the bait to lure Kevin Durant. The Lakers cannot be an attractive destination for the former MVP with just the unproven young trio of Jordan Clarkson, D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle as its selling point. Signing Horford promptly will make Durant take a second look as it was mentioned that he wanted to play with the Dominican Republic native.