The Lakers reportedly have interest in signing Jimmy Butler in free agency

There has mostly been noise about other free agent targets for the Lakers, but Jimmy Butler would be an okay option if their Kawhi Leonard pursuit doesn’t work out.

The Los Angeles Lakers are spending the day before NBA free agency officially begins expressing their interest in basically every free agent on the market, and doing so legally for a change. Philadelphia 76ers guard Jimmy Butler is the latest name to surface as being among their targets.

This isn’t the first time the Lakers have been linked to Butler, who they were reportedly expected to chase hard in the immediate aftermath of the Anthony Davis trade. While it seems their attention is mostly on Kawhi Leonard right now, Butler would be another decent option for them to spend their newfound max cap room on.

The Lakers won’t be alone in pursuing him, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:

One thing that might make Butler a realistic option, however, is that he may still be in a holding pattern by the time Leonard makes his decision. While free agents like D’Angelo Russell will probably be in a rush to make sure the music doesn’t stop before their find their next stop, Butler seems to be willing to work with teams on complicated sign-and-trade scenarios that take time to figure out, and thus could still be available when the Lakers find out what Leonard’s decision will be. If he chooses another team, L.A. could re-engage with the second-best two-way wing on the market.

Butler has his warts, and has now left his last three teams seemingly unhappy. Those are potential red flags, but on the court, his fit as an attacking wing who can shoot a little, guard several positions and run a pick and roll would all seem to be skills the Lakers could use as they fill in the roster around Anthony Davis and LeBron James. He’s also been proven on the postseason stage multiple times, which does mean something and give him an edge over other potential targets for the Lakers.

This still seems to be a long way from happening, and both sides appear to have higher priorities, but if they’re both left without a surefire partner as last call in free agency approaches, a union may be a pretty good fallback scenario for both sides.

For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. Here is a list of every free agent credibly connected to the Lakers so far. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.