The Lakers have given qualifying offers to Jordan Clarkson, Tarik Black, and Marcelo Huertas, thus making them restricted free agents
With all of the talk about who the Los Angeles Lakers could potentially sign in 2016 NBA free agency, there are some things that get a bit overlooked. Some people overlook the simple question of if the Lakers should make a big splash this summer in free agency. Some people overlook the plight of the rebuilding process and how certain free agents would potentially fit. However, many people have forgotten about the players that the Lakers are looking to re-sign.
The Lakers took the first step in making that happen with at least three players on Thursday afternoon, though.
As reported by Gary Collard, the Lakers gave qualifying offers to Jordan Clarkson, Tarik Black, and Marcelo Huertas while not giving one to Ryan Kelly. The qualifying offer will make Clarkson, Black, and Huertas restricted free agents while Kelly will now become unrestricted:
Lakers give QO's to Clarkson, Huertas and Black and decline to give one to Kelly, all as expected.
— Gary Collard (@LakerGMC) June 30, 2016
That the Lakers would give those three players qualifying offers definitely isn’t a big surprise as these moves are to be expected from LA this offseason.
However, it does give a bit of a glimpse into at least some of the moves that the front office has in store for free agency. They’ve talked publicly (as has JC) about re-signing Clarkson and matching most offers thrown at the young guard, but to see that they are at least going to consider the same for Huertas and Black is a bit more of breaking news than anything with Clarkson.
Of the players that you’d want to see sticking around from a 17-win season that are coming off of the books for the Lakers, these are the three guys that certainly come to mind first. So now we wait for what’s next with the Lakers and these three restricted free agents.