NBA Free Agency and Rumours roundup: 5th July - Kawhi Leonard, Lillard to Lakers?

After a frenzied start to free agency, nearly all the big pieces on the drawing board for teams are now off it, tied up to some team or the other. LeBron took his talents to Venice Beach, Paul George returned to OKC while KD and CP3 followed suit for the Warriors and the Rockets. DeAndre Jordan declined his player option with the Clippers, opting to sign with the Mavericks for less and help their playoff push. All of the aforementioned deals took place within the first 24 hours.

On Day 2, after a series of events involving Rajon Rondo and Julius Randle, DeMarcus Cousins supercharged an all-time great Warriors roster with his arrival, who are now definitely the strongest NBA team in history.

Thus, what we bring to you from Day 5 are mostly reports about role players now, and a couple of other saucy rumors about established players.

#1 Kawhi Leonard may prefer the Clippers to the Lakers now

San Antonio Spurs v Sacramento Kings

With the Kawhi Leonard saga having stretched on for a long time now, there's reportedly a new development. Appearing on the Back to Back podcast on the Count The Dings Network on Thursday, ESPN.com's Michael C. Wright indicated that The Klaw is now focusing on trying to land a move to the Clippers rather than the Lakers - after LeBron James' announcement that he'll be signing with them.

"The Lakers are not Kawhi's preferred destination anymore," Wright said. "He wants to go to the Clippers. Because he doesn't want to go and be second fiddle to LeBron. That's what I was told. I was told by somebody that would know. So right now the Clippers are where he wants to go.

But I'm also told—I talked to people within the Spurs organization—and they're like, 'Yeah he wants to go to the Clippers, but their assets are s--t at this point.'"

Leonard's relationship with the Spurs has been on ice for a long time now, with additional reports coming in that his camp attempted to hide him from the Spurs staff when they reached out to New York.

Leonard has proved over the last 4 years - since the 2014 NBA Finals and the FMVP trophy he landed back then, that he is a worthy opponent for James. The Spurs only had him last season, and they still managed to make the Western Conference Finals and had the Warriors down by 25 points in Oakland whilst he was still on the court.

Doc Rivers is a championship winner, and with Kawhi on his hands, he can lead the Clippers to a quick turnaround of fortunes following the departures of their Lob City trio.

#2 Nemanja Bjelica signs with the Philadelphia 76ers

Houston Rockets v Minnesota Timberwolves - Game Four

Nemanja Bjelica, a restricted free agent this summer after spending 3 seasons with the Timberwolves, has signed a one-year, $4.4 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. Bjelica was drafted by the Wizards in 2010 with the 35th overall pick, but continued playing in Europe as he had for 3 years before. He made his NBA debut in 2015 after winning Euroleague MVP honours for the previous season with Fenerbahce.

Bjelica has only played the role of a backup thus far in the NBA, and projects to be a direct replacement for Ersan Ilyasova on the Sixers' roster. Standing at 6'10", Bjelica's natural position projects to be a power forward - his 41.5% shooting from downtown, however, might allow Brett Brown to field him as a stretch 5 in certain lineups.

He remains one of the European players yet to actualize their talents to the full within the NBA, and at 30 years of age, this might be his best chance to land a big payday with solid performances through this season.

#3 Damian Lillard drops cryptic tweet about moving to the Lakers

2018 NBA All-Star Game

Well, well, well! Damian Lillard is one of the best point guards in the league, as he proved through the 2017-18 regular season when he led the Trail Blazers to the 3rd seed ahead of several worthy challengers and landed a First-Team All-NBA spot for his performances. This offseason, however, the Blazers' front office hasn't exactly done a satisfactory job in his view.

His reaction to Ed Davis signing with the Brooklyn Nets says it all.

💔 https://t.co/uvIwItEQA8

— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) July 1, 2018

Davis was an important member of the Blazers' rotation last season, and had earned Lillard's respect. The duo had a nice pick-and-roll combo going, and Dame Dolla is clearly dismayed by the manner in which the front office let him walk.

Thus, came his tongue-in-cheek response to a tweet 2 days back.

I’m typically a happy camper https://t.co/LvFoTwlEFW

— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) July 4, 2018

Can the Lakers put a reasonable trade package together for Lillard? Will they? It looks unlikely right now, but we've seen stranger things happen in the league.