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#2 Sign DeMarcus Cousins
Signing Cousins is a possibility for the Lakers, but they have limited cap space to fit him in currently. Signing Caldwell-Pope to a high-priced deal may have been a sign that they are out of the race for the free agent big man.
Coming off a season-ending Achilles injury, Cousins may not get the max contract that he wants from New Orleans, which puts the Lakers in a good spot to poach him away if they can unload Deng's contract.
They will have to package Deng with other assets if they are to unload his deal and take a minimal cap hit in return, but if they can dump his $18 million for next season they will have close to $25 million to spend on Cousins.
Cousins is meeting with the Pelicans and Lakers in free agency, so the assumption is he will land with one of those teams.
If they can manage to dump Deng and sign Cousins at a discount, they can still theoretically trade for Leonard after signing Randle over the cap with bird rights.
A long-term Cousins signing will be their first priority if they can get a verbal agreement from the Spurs for a Leonard trade and make all the appropriate preceding moves. It's a long shot, and a lot will have to go right for them, but a big three of LeBron, Leonard and Cousins would be highly competitive against the best teams in the West.
If the Spurs fail to co-operate in a Leonard trade, the Lakers won't want to sign Cousins to a long-term deal.
They will hedge their bets, wait for Leonard in next year's free agency class, and hope he doesn't backflip like Paul George did. Still, a one-year deal is a possibility for Cousins, but only if the Pelicans offer him an atrocious deal (which is possible given his injury status and the Pelicans' improved play following his injury).
Cousins isn't exactly a perfect sidekick to match-up against the Warriors, but if he can improve his conditioning to keep up with the Warriors' 'Hamptons Five' then he will be a great option as a center who can dominate in the post while also creating space by playing on the perimeter.
