The LA Lakers were the pre-emptive favorites to pry away Hassan Whiteside from the Miami Heat.
Armed to the teeth in cap space and brandishing the Hollywood lifestyle and the Lakers' tradition of playing great centers, most pundits see LA as the most likely destination for Whiteside. The Heat would be hard-pressed to offer him the max contract-something the Lakers can easily accomplish.
However, a revelation by Marc Stein on draft day could change all that. According to his tweet, the Sacramento Kings have been pursuing Lakers point guard D'Angelo Russell.
As Silver Screen and Roll recalled, the Kings were already pursuing D'Angelo Russell even before he was drafted by the Lakers last year. "Rumors about the Kings' interest in Russell were flying within a week of the Lakers drafting the Ohio State guard, but ultimately discussions fizzled out," Drew Garrison of SSL stated. "What's going on behind the scenes is anybody's guess, though."
What we do know is what's going on in the 2016 NBA Draft. The Kings just drafted two centers at no.13 and 28, (Georgios Papagiannis and Skal Labissiere respectively) picks they acquired from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for their own no.8 pick (which turned out to be Marquese Chriss).
Why would the Kings draft two centers when they already have three in their roster: Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein and Kosta Koufos? The Philadelphia 76ers has shown how difficult it is to trade a center, but the Kings still had their logjam.
This led to conclusions that DeMarcus Cousins may be on his way out. This has not been confirmed yet, but considering that the Lakers will not trade D'Angelo Russell for anyone less, the Kings' hesitation in re-signing point guard Rajon Rondo and today's draft day decisions, it seems like a logical conclusion.
Meanwhile, Marc Stein himself also reported on ESPN that the Mavericks have set their sights on Hassan Whiteside and Mike Conley. They were previously linked to Dwight Howard (actually, the Mavs are linked to every big name free agent) but nothing has been finalized between the two parties.
It was presumed that Dallas would sign Mark Cuban's "top recruiter" Chandler Parsons and use him to lure Howard, but Stein says that dynamic has shifted. They are now willing to max out Whiteside and Conley in their new "Plan A."
"Dallas' ideal scenario of landing both Conley and Whiteside would not leave enough cap space to re-sign forward Chandler Parsons," Stein wrote. "The Mavs are willing to take the risk of Parsons accepting an offer from another team while they pursue their Plan A, sources say."
Why did the Mavs have the sudden shift to Whiteside when they did not mention him before? Have the Lakers stopped pursuing him? These are all possible scenarios being speculated from Stein's reports.