Play With LeBron James? Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler Don't Want To: Report

The presence of LeBron James is seemingly an obstacle for the Los Angeles Lakers when it comes to pursuing a high-profile free agent next year.

James signed on a four-year deal earlier this summer with the expectation of another star to join him. However, the Lakers decided to focus on their young core and wait a year, especially given the loaded free agent class of 2019.

The likes of Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson and more could all be available then, with any one of them joining likely to transform the Lakers from playoff contenders to potential champions.

However, two of those potential free agents are unlikely to join as long as James is a Laker. According to Kevin O'Connor of the Ringer, there are "whispers" around the league that neither Leonard or Butler want to play with the 33-year-old.

With Thompson unlikely to leave the Golden State Warriors as well, O'Connor added the Lakers may have to go after Milwaukee's Khris Middleton or Charlotte's Kemba Walker as alternatives.

Middleton and Walker would be good additions, but not landscape-changing ones like Leonard or Butler would be. Of course, it's not the first time players, these two in particular, have been reported to not wanting to play with James.

Before being traded to the Toronto Raptors from the San Antonio Spurs, it was understood Leonard wanted a move to Los Angeles. The Lakers were heavily linked but it was later revealed by ESPN he no longer wanted to join them as he did not want to play second fiddle to the Akron native and instead preferred the Clippers.

This was also backed by ESPN analyst and former player Jalen Rose, who believes if Leonard was to leave the Raptors next year, it would be for the Clippers rather than the Lakers.

"If Kawhi Leonard does leave Toronto, it won’t be for the Los Angeles Lakers," Rose said. "I think he wouldn’t want to play alongside LeBron James because I think that casts a shadow to his personality that he really doesn’t want."

"Classic media thing — he came out and said he wanted to play in California and everybody in the media was like 'He’s going to the Lakers'. He didn’t say that. If he leaves Toronto, in my opinion, it’s going to be for the Los Angeles Clippers. That’s said by the guy who initially told the world in January that the situation was fractured between Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs."

As for Butler, who currently wants a trade away from the Minnesota Timberwolves, it was reported last month by ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski that he once planned on playing for the Lakers only for things to change.

"Butler had once imagined playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, but LeBron James’ arrival as the franchise’s cornerstone made it less appealing for Butler in the prime of his career, league sources said," Wojnarowski wrote.

When one also considers how Kyrie Irving left James and the Cleveland Cavaliers last year to be the main star at the Boston Celtics, the Lakers may have some serious trouble in landing that second high-profile star in 2019.