Moe Harkless is receiving interest from the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks.

Harkless is a restricted free agent, which gives the Portland Trail Blazers the right to match.

The Blazers acquired Harkless from the Orlando Magic last offseason and he has value as a combo forward.

The Philadelphia 76ers have interested in Jordan Clarkson in free agency.

Clarkson is a restricted free agent, which gives the Los Angeles Lakers the ability to match.

Because Clarkson is under the Arenas provision, the 76ers can sign him to a deal that is heavily backloaded.

The Lakers would presumably be fine matching that type of deal because it would help them maximize their cap space for 2017.

Hassan Whiteside will hold three meetings in New York as he explores his free agency options.

Whiteside will meet with the Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers.

Whiteside reportedly will not meet with the Los Angeles Lakers.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Mavericks are emerging as frontrunners to sign Whiteside with the incumbent Heat losing ground.

The Toronto Raptors have been granted the first meeting in free agency with DeMar DeRozan.

DeRozan will meet with the Raptors in Los Angeles on July 1st. DeRozan would like to re-sign with the Raptors.

DeRozan could meet with the Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers if he's unable to agree upon terms with the Raptors.

DeRozan is a free agent for the first time in his career.

The Dallas Mavericks have secured a meeting with Mike Conley for July 1st.

Dallas has made Conley one of their top priorities in free agency.

The Memphis Grizzlies can sign Conley to a five-year deal while rival teams like the Mavericks can only offer four-year deals. Conley is seeking the fifth year from the Grizzlies.

The Mavericks largely played Deron Williams and J.J. Barea at point guard last season.

The Houston Rockets, New Orleans Pelicans, Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers are also interested in Conley.

Nicolas Batum is considering his options as free agency is set to begin.

The Charlotte Hornets have reportedly made re-signing Batum one of their top priorities in free agency.

Batum could meet with the Los Angeles Lakers while the Dallas Mavericks are also expected to be interested.

The Los Angeles Lakers' top priority in free agency is Kevin Durant but they are also interested in Harrison Barnes, Hassan Whiteside and Al Horford.

The Lakers have enough cap space to sign multiple max contract players.

Los Angeles also hired Luke Walton as head coach and they feel he and their young players make for an attractive situation to prospective free agents as they try to turnaround after multiple seasons of a rebuild.

The Los Angeles Lakers continue to pursue a meeting with Kevin Durant.

The Lakers will contact Durant and his representatives when free agency begins on July 1st and are confident they will be granted a meeting.

"I can't imagine Durant wouldn't talk to us," the source said. "That would shock me."

The Lakers believe they have a pitch that will appeal to both Durant and other free agents.

With the ability to clear more than $60 million in cap space, they will attempt to sell stars on the potential of joining the Lakers with another top-tier free agent, the source said.

"We want to pitch guys on combinations, as opposed to just one guy," the source said. "We'll say to a guy, 'Who do you want to play with? We've got the room to go get him.'"

According to sources, Dr. Jerry Buss "did not have deep confidence in Jim (Buss) as a basketball visionary or even someone with the grit to stay in charge of Lakers personnel for the long haul."

Jim Buss has had an active role in the Los Angeles Lakers' front office for many years, working alongside Mitch Kupchak.

The foundation of the Lakers' basketball operations was not expected to last.

"Jerry had a bit of a blind spot when it came to Jim, who suffered stunning deaths to a best friend and a girlfriend and was viewed by his father as a fragile soul," writes Ding. "Jim was also the child to whom Jerry was personally closest…and he was the only realistic option at the time among the children to handle the basketball post."

Jim Buss promised his siblings that the Lakers would be "in contention for a championship" within three years. Buss was confident LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony would sign in 2014 and he also told people Dwight Howard would re-sign in 2013. As recently as this season, Jim Buss told people that the Lakers would sign Kevin Durant this offseason and Russell Westbrook in 2017.

The Atlanta Hawks will compete to re-sign Al Horford with the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets.

Horford is a free agent for the first time in his career.

The Hawks can offer Horford a fifth season and more lucrative raises than any rival team. Atlanta's offseason goal appear to be to re-sign Horford and Kent Bazemore.

Horford has been an All-Star in each of the past two seasons.