Jason Rosenfeld has left the Los Angeles Lakers.

Rosenfeld was director of basketball analytics and joined the Lakers in October of 2017. Rosenfeld was previously with the Charlotte Hornets.

Rosenfeld will move to a role in Major League Baseball.

At least one general manager believes the decision from Isaiah Thomas not to undergo surgery on his injured hip last offseason is a red flag.

Thomas underwent surgery at the end of this season.

"It’s a red flag that he did not have surgery on it," one general manager told Sporting News. "If you have a problem that can be fixed heading into your free-agent year, you get surgery. If there is concern that you can’t fix it with surgery, that means probably there is something more wrong. It is something that, obviously, the doctors will look at closely."

Thomas averaged just 15.2 points in 32 games this season as he lacked the explosion that made him an MVP candidate in 16-17.

"Just given the way he played last year," another NBA executive said, "I think you can’t go more than one year on him. Maybe you can do two years if you hold the second year at your option. That’s before you even get into whether he is healthy."

Any team that considers signing Thomas will want protections in case there's lingering issues with his hip.

"I think everybody likes the guy," the GM said. "You root for him. But do you want to pay him $12 or 14 million when you know you’re also paying for all the headaches that his health could give you? Someone will get him, but it’s going to be a low-risk deal."

At least one NBA executive believes the Los Angeles Lakers will pursue a trade for Kawhi Leonard this offseason and that he would like to play in the area he grew up.

Leonard would give up an opportunity to sign a supermax contract extension if he decides he wants to leave the Spurs.

“I think they go in hard for Leonard once the season is over and once the dust settles in San Antonio,” one executive told Sporting News. “(Leonard) wants to go to LA. There probably won’t be public demands on that, but he has leverage. He is going to be a free agent (in 2019). He’s an LA guy and he can just let teams know he won’t re-sign next year with anyone but the Lakers.”

The Celtics and 76ers could also put a compelling package together for Leonard.

“I would say that’s the most likely thing,” another general manager told Sporting News. “He’s going to be their target any way you look at it, this summer or next summer. There’s not many other ways to explain what’s been going on with that situation other than him trying to get out of San Antonio.”

When the Los Angeles Lakers make their free agent pitches this offseason, it will be Magic Johnson leading the way.

The Lakers are expected to pursue LeBron James and Paul George.

“You tailor your message to the individual,” Johnson said. “You have to know what’s important to them and how we can help them achieve their goals, on and off the court, but especially on. You also have to tell them how special this is and what it means. Face of the Lakers, nothing competes with that. You’re great here, you win here, it’s forever. It’s magical. It brings you so many things you can’t even see or imagine. Here I am, almost 60, and I’m still the prince of the city.”

Johnson believes this season was a success.

“We had to show that we have really good young players, and we did that,” Johnson said. “That’s what guys and their agents want to see: ‘If I put my talent with your talent, can we win?’ I think we proved you can.”

While the Lakers have been compared to the early Oklahoma City teams and also the 2010 Heat with their cap space, Johnson also likes the Boston blueprint.

“Kyrie Irving got with young, talented players,” Johnson said. “It’s not that you have to have a Big Three anymore. You have to have young horses to go with a superstar or two.” 

Kyle Kuzma is encouraged by the strides the Lakers made this season.

“Our record doesn’t show it,” Kuzma said, “but I feel like the whole league is watching us.”

Kuzma believes in the ability of Lonzo Ball to become a transcendent talent.

“When you’re out there with Zo, you get the reason for the hype,” Kuzma said. “He’s not going to wow you with scoring. But if you’re a true basketball fan, you appreciate the beauty of what he does. He gets a rebound, you run ahead, and he throws it like 60 feet without dribbling.”

Kuzma even isn't shy to compare the Lakers to the early Thunder teams featuring Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

“Remember when KD and Russ were young, and they were 3–29,” Kuzma said of Durant and Westbrook. “This happens.” 

Rob Pelinka would often meet with Jerry Buss and Kobe Bryant at the owner's home in Playa del Rey.

Buss died in 2013 and Pelinka wondered what he would make of their rebuilding state.

“I think there became a comfort in the banners,” Pelinka concluded. “No one saw the progress, the pioneering of new things, which is what we used to be known for. No one was saying, ‘We want to do what the Lakers are doing.’ It was the opposite. It was, ‘No one wants to go there anymore.’ ”

The Lakers are effectively following the Thunder model and the Heat model at the same time by developing a young core and also maintaining significant cap space.

“That’s the beauty of it,” Pelinka says. “Whatever the road becomes—Is it two max guys this summer? Is it one this summer and one the next? Is it splitting up the space and just growing this young core?—it’s a good road to be on.”

While LeBron James will be a free agent this offseason, the most interesting story could be the future of Kawhi Leonard.

The San Antonio Spurs could entertain trading Leonard this offseason if they don't sign him to a five-year supermax.

"What happens to Kawhi Leonard, is a link to what happens to LeBron," said Brian Windhorst on ESPN's SportsNation.

"Where Kawhi ends up this season, will have a direct impact on where LeBron ends up even if they don't play together. They will be linked in where their futures will be."

Windhorst added that the Lakers could approach the Spurs on a trade offer for Leonard. Windhorst also mentioned that James has the ability to complete an opt-in-and-trade similar to what Chris Paul did with the Clippers to get to the Rockets.

The Los Angeles Lakers will not panic during the 2018 offseason if they are unable to land their preferred free agent targets. The Lakers could roll their cap space over to the 2019 class, which could include Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson.

"I don't look at July 2018 as the litmus test of success," Rob Pelinka said. "I think that there is a theme, a strategy, that you can see in history that is not going to be just defined by one moment. That will be the next point of time to see what happens, but there is a strong trend of success in our players and how the team is being managed that is going to continue going forward regardless of what specifically happens in July of 2018."

"We are not going to give money away just to say we signed somebody," Magic Johnson said. "We are not going to do that."

In order for the Lakers to maximize their cap space, they would have to waive and stretch Luol Deng, and rescind the qualifying offer to Julius Randle.

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed guard Andre Ingram for the rest of the season.

Ingram averaged 9.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 47 games (seven starts) for the South Bay Lakers this season, shooting a league-best 47.5 percent from three-point range. The G League’s all-time leader in three-pointers made (713) owns career G League averages of 10.2 points (.464 FG%, .461 3P%), 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 384 games.

The Lakers roster stands at 17, including two two-way players.

LeBron James isn't thinking ahead towards free agency as the regular season winds down. 

"I don't think like that," James said. "I'm too much of a guy that's stuck in the moment. I don't do too much of that."

James said his family will be the determining factor with whether he re-signs with the Cavaliers.

"My family. That's all that matters," James told cleveland.com. "I want to continue to win at the highest level, because I know I can still do it as an individual, and then my family. My family is what's most important to me, more than anything."

James and his wife, Savannah, are both from Akron. James also has two homes in the Los Angeles area.

"That's just a small piece of it," James said, when asked if the decision comes down to where his family wants to live. "We make joint decisions all together, all the time. Once we get to it, my agent and my team we will all tackle it the right way but my family plays a big part in it. And winning."

James has previously been a free agent in 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

This offseason, James is widely expected to choose between the Cavaliers, Lakers, 76ers and Rockets.