Former Lakers coach and star Byron Scott, for one, said this week that he believes the team has targeted this summer for a quick jump-start rebuild, suggesting that LA will wind up with both Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James this summer.

Around the league, front-office sources agree with at least half that assessment.

“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.”

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There could be some complicating factors, however. The Spurs could try to work out their differences with Leonard and put a supermax deal (worth $200 million) in front of him in July, but the franchise is wary of doing so because Leonard played only nine games this season with his mysterious quad injury. San Antonio also has young players it will need to make decisions on, contract-wise, in the next year or two (Dejounte Murray, Kyle Anderson and Davis Bertans).

And there’s the Lakers, who would be hesitant to give up young players like Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram to land Leonard this year, if they’re fairly certain they could sign him outright next year as a free agent. There’s some danger to that, however. Paul George, for example, was dead-set on going to the Lakers at this time last year, but Oklahoma City gambled and traded for him. Now, there’s a chance the Thunder can keep George.

A team like Philadelphia, which will have a lottery selection and late first-round pick in this year’s draft, or Boston (No. 27 this year, and as many as four picks next year) could gamble on Leonard as a potential championship piece and hope that he could be convinced to re-sign next summer.

There’s also some time pressure for Leonard, who is in the midst of working out his next shoe contract. His camp wants more than the reported four years and $20 million offered by Brand Jordan, and the bet is that if Leonard lands in LA by this summer, he’ll be in position to demand more.

But make no mistake, the Lakers are the favorite here.

“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.”

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The question of whether attracting Leonard would be enough to also entice James to bolt Cleveland is another matter altogether. Again, other teams could be involved — Houston, most notably, especially as the Cavaliers have looked underwhelming here early in the postseason and the possibility of playing with close friend Chris Paul remains.

But the consensus around the league remains that James will make his next decision based as much on lifestyle as on winning — and that would point to him either remaining in Cleveland, where he is settled, or going to Los Angeles, where he would like to eventually transition to a post-playing career as an entertainment mogul.

Would adding Leonard be enough to entice James to go to the Lakers? The two are not close off the court, but James has praised Leonard as his toughest defender in the league, and that could be incentive to want to play with the guy.

Still, the James rumor is but a sideshow here. The Lakers will make their pitch for Leonard no matter what James does. LA hopes to sign two superstars in the next two summers, but landing Leonard through a trade now will be the priority.

“That’s the thing to watch,” the general manager said. “It might be a pipe dream for them to get two max guys this summer, but if they have a player like Leonard who wants to be in LA? They’d have to make that happen now.”