The off-season continues to get more and more interesting every day. As of the beginning of this week, there are a few leads the Los Angeles Lakers are following up on, and which you should stay apprised of:

- According to Brian Kamenetzky of ESPN LA, Dwight Howard may “very possibly” come to Los Angeles. That boy’s plan is falling down around his ears. It’s looking like the one team he declared he would go to, the Brooklyn Nets, have no plans to sign him. This means that if he wants out, the Lakers have an extremely good package to get him. However, we all saw what happened last year when a player went somewhere he didn’t want to be (i.e. Odom), so it may not be the best idea to bring Dwight.

- If the Toronto Raptors get Steve Nash, they will likely amnesty Jose Calderon, who in turn has said he would like to play with countryman Pau Gasol, per Mark Stein of ESPN. However, this means the Lakers somehow need to unload some salary, and not trade the Spaniard, who is one of their best trading pieces.

- Dave McMeniman of ESPN LA writes: “The Lakers are targeting a handful of veteran point guards including Chauncey Billups, Jameer Nelson and Kirk Hinrich, the source said.” … This is not great news for Lakers fans as these are older, slower, expensive players.

- The Mercury News is reporting that the Lakers are interested in the Warriors’ Brandon Rush. However, Rush has received a $4 million qualifying offer from the Warriors, as he is a restricted free agent, so it’s unlikely the Lakers will be able to outbid them.

And finally…

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The Lakers have talked to agent Mark Bartelstein about his client, Nick Young. Lakers could only spend the mini mid level ($3 mill) on him

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) July 1, 2012

That’s it for the free agency frenzy for now. Keep checking back for updates!