This is post 3 of 9. For the rest of my Team Free Agency Questions, click here!
They did it! They got the room they needed to sign a max free agent. Faith in Rob Pelinka is renewed!
Finally, the Lakers proved all of the haters wrong and overcame the odds as a big-market team cleared out the space they needed to reach $32 million by trading Mo Wagner, Isaac Bonga, and Jemerrio Jones to the Wizards – I don’t know why they’d help the Lakers but that’s alright.
Anthony Davis is also set to waive his $4 million trade kicker (check his Space Jam 2 check though because I think I know how much that’ll be worth) which creates $32 million in cap space for the Lakers…they are now going big game hunting. I had this entire article written out breaking down the Lakers’ different options based on their limited cap space but now that doesn’t matter! With this new space, the Lakers are going for a 3rd superstar which I believe is the right move – however that comes with benefits and detriments as well.
Let’s go through their questions one-by-one:
First up, will the Lakers go all in on one star or will they pick two or maybe more players to fill out their roster?
So there are positives and benefits to each strategy. Obviously if you get the other superstar in the $20-$30 million range, then that thins out their roster considerably and restricts which role players they can then go out and sign.
On the flip side though, if they somehow got the space to sign Butler, Klay, Kyrie, or Kemba (all of whom will need to take a pay cut), then they have three of the top 20 players in the NBA and they can figure the rest out later. Any fanbase would be more than happy to have a middling roster if you have three great superstars, despite the fact that strategy doesn’t always work out. Additionally, this helps mitigate the risk of losing too many games if one of the three goes down. However, if you lose two - as the Warriors did in the Finals - then it's over for your team.
The other strategy is to sign multiple mid-tier free agents. This makes their roster less top heavy, but it also makes them more susceptible to bad stretches if one of Davis/LeBron goes down for an extended period of time. However, because of this deal with Washington, their prospects heading into free agency are much better than they were before! They now have ten times more flexibility going into Sunday than they did 24 hours ago. Now it all depends on what they do with that money.
This leads me to question Number 2!
Will they actually sign shooters to go with LeBron unlike last year?
They should and they better and they will. I can’t imagine the Lakers will make the same mistake two years in a row. Plus there are better shooter available than there were last year. They can go after (from highest price to lowest) Klay Thompson, D’Angelo Russell, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, Tobias Harris, JJ Reddick, Nikola Mirotic, KCP (again), among many others – like I’ve said, there are over 200 free agents and there’s a good chance that there over a dozen more players available via sign and trade.
Will D’Angelo Russell actually return to them?
This was a bigger question before this morning, but the fact that Russell would even consider the Lakers as an option in restricted free agency is pretty incredible. I was under the impression that the bridge was burned to the ground, rebuilt, and then burnt again when the Lakers traded him in 2017. However, it seems like time does heal all wounds and that both sides are willing to hear each other out. However, I think Russell is now the Lakers 3rd or 4th guard option in free agency with players like Kemba Walker, Malcolm Brogdon (cheaper price and defense), and Jimmy Butler being their first choices.
They also need the Nets to renounce Russell’s rights which will only happen if the Nets get both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant this offseason. If they only get one, then that could change the Lakers’ approach because the Nets may then feel like they need to keep Russell because they don’t want just Kyrie Irving as their franchise centerpiece (I’ll address the Nets more in a different post).
According to Arye Abraham (up-and-coming NBA insider), the Lakers will get a meeting with Kawhi Leonard and, according to other reports, the Lakers still feel good about their chances to land him. They will also get a meeting with D’Angelo Russell and almost every other major free agent now that they have created sufficient cap space – an interesting team just became even more compelling.
For every Lakers fan out there who has been telling everyone all month long that the Lakers still have a shot, here's a clip of Woj saying the Lakers’ chances of getting Kawhi were good as dead last week - that way you can rub it in everyone's faces.
It’s crazy how quickly everything can change in the NBA!
Next let's check in on their cross-country rivals, the Boston Celtics!