Free-agent guard Darren Collison has a meeting set with his agent, Bill Duffy, early next week to finalize a decision on a potential comeback, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday.
Upon a decision to return, Duffy's next step will be to set up formal meetings for Collison with the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers, sources told Wojnarowski.
A native of nearby Rancho Cucamonga, California, who played his college ball at UCLA, Collison abruptly exited the league in June, citing religious reasons for retiring. He sat courtside with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss at Thursday's game against the Houston Rockets.
Asked whether his presence was a sign of an impending agreement with the Lakers, Collison brushed it off.
"Just watching the game, ain't nothing to it," Collison said. "Got the best seats in the house."
Collison, 32, averaged 12.5 points and 5.0 assists per game while shooting 39.4% from 3 in 10 seasons, including two seasons under current Lakers coach Frank Vogel from 2010 to 2012 with the Indiana Pacers. He has become a progressively better 3-point shooter in his career, including shooting 47% in the 2017-18 season with the Pacers. His exit from the league last year came despite an expectation that he would attract multiple contract offers in the neighborhood of $10 million-plus a season.
The Lakers have looked to fortify the point guard position all season and made inquiries to the Oklahoma City Thunder regarding Dennis Schroder, the Sacramento Kings about Bogdan Bogdanovic and the Detroit Pistons about Derrick Rose in the days and weeks leading up to the trade deadline, sources told ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
ESPN NBA analyst Matt Barnes said on The Jump on Thursday that Collison told him he would have a "50-50" chance of joining the Lakers.