After a rocky start to his career that has been challenged by hip surgery and two trades since being selected No. 6 out of Syracuse in the 2009 NBA draft, Jonny Flynn is seeking a fresh start this offseason and just might find it with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Flynn has identified six teams -- the Lakers, Portland, Phoenix, Toronto, Chicago, and Brooklyn -- as potential destinations and should find mutual interest from the potential suitors, according to a source close to the unrestricted free agent point guard.
Teams cannot extend any formal interest toward a player until free agency officially begins July 1.
Flynn would be an insurance policy for the Lakers should free agent Ramon Sessions sign elsewhere and the Lakers were left scrambling to find a point guard to join a roster that currently only has one point guard under contract in Steve Blake.
Flynn, 23, averaged 13.5 points and 4.4 assists per game in his rookie season with the Minnesota Timberwolves when Sessions was his backup, but has struggled to find a consistent role since then. During the 2011 draft, he was traded from Minnesota to the Houston Rockets where he was the third point guard in coach Kevin McHale's rotation behind Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic. Houston traded Flynn to the Portland Trail Blazers in March. Flynn backed up Raymond Felton and Nolan Smith in Portland before getting a chance at significant playing time late in the season. Flynn averaged 10.7 points and 7.3 assists when given the opportunity to play 20 minutes or more in four games for the Blazers, including 18 points and 11 assists in Portland's regular-season finale.
Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.