Kemba Walker will be Lakers ‘top target’ in free agency after Anthony Davis trade

The Lakers are hoping to pair Kemba Walker with Anthony Davis and LeBron James.

After losing Lonzo Ball in the Anthony Davis trade, the Los Angeles Lakers will target three-time All-Star Kemba Walker in free agency, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times.

Here’s the report from Stein:

Walker has made it clear that he would love to stay in Charlotte, where he’s spent the last eight years, and the Hornets have every incentive to pay him the five-year “supermax” contract he earned by making an All-NBA team this season. Walker has even said he would take less than the “supermax” to re-up with the Hornets so the team could improve.

However, if Walker, who turned 29 years old in May, decides that he wants to make a run at a championship next season, Los Angeles might be the best place to do it.

Walker is coming off a career year with the Hornets, where he averaged a career-high 25.6 points per game on 43.4 percent shooting from the field, including 35.6 percent from behind the 3-point line. He also contributed 5.9 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.

Defensively, he leaves a lot to be desired, but that’s to be expected of a 6’1” point guard. Plus, he’s valuable enough on the offensive end for his shortcomings on the defensive end not to be a glaring issue.

While the Lakers should first look to two-way wings like Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler and Klay Thompson, Walker would be a fine consolation prize for a team that already has LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma and Anthony Davis. That’s not to mention the team’s next generation of superstar players: Isaac Bonga and Moe Wagner.

This is going to be fun.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available. For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Christian on Twitter at @RadRivas.