5 Decisions Lakers Still Need To Make This Off-Season

1. What to do with Steve Nash?

When the Lakers brought Nash on board in the summer of 2012, the worst case scenario imagine then could not even begin to cover what has happened in his time in purple and gold. His first season was derailed immediately due to a broken leg and he never got proper footing. Last season, we saw an abbreviated version of Nash, who could only manage 15 games.

Now, the Lakers have three options: keep, cut, trade.

Option one would see the Lakers hold on to his $9 million contract and watch it expire next summer, opening up a host of cap space with it. It would also, however, mean the Lakers have to hold on to what is quickly becoming an over-the-hill, unable to contribute point guard. Nash could certainly surprise everyone and become a worthwhile role player next season, but given how the last two seasons have we went, logic tells us he’s done.

Option two would be waive him while using the stretch provision, lessening his cap hit from $9 million to roughly $3 million. This would likely be done if the Lakers had a free agent they fell in love with, but did not have the cap space to sign him. However, the last likely candidate for that would have been Lance Stephenson, and given that he’s signed with Charlotte, this seems like an obsolete possibility. Only a trade would require the Lakers to waive Nash now.

The third option is to trade Nash. Obviously, it wouldn’t be an easy sell to convince a team to take on Nash’s contract, meaning the Lakers would likely have to package the first round pick they received from Houston with the Canadian. However, much like the previous option, this only makes sense if the Lakers need cap space for a free agent or incoming player via trade, and given the current trajectory of the season, this wouldn’t make sense.

PREDICTION: Lakers keep Steve Nash