The Lakers pulled off a brilliant trade for Jose Calderon and picks, but who else could they be looking to pull off a similar deal for?
The Los Angeles Lakers certainly made some questionable moves this offseason for varying reasons. Even if you’re fine with the amount of money that the Lakers gave to free agents Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng, you do have to question the notion of giving those players long-term deals.
In the midst of this, though, the Lakers also pulled off one of the more brilliant moves of the offseason, if not a simple move. As the Chicago Bulls looked to clear cap room to sign Dwyane Wade, the Lakers swooped in to use their cap space to absorb the salary of point guard Jose Calderon on an expiring contract in addition to two future second-round picks in exchange for the rights to Ater Majok, a 2011 second-round pick for the Lakers that may not ever come over.
Essentially, the Lakers were able to keep cap space open for next summer when they may have the chance to be more lucrative in free agency while also acquiring more draft picks.
What’s interesting, though, is that the Lakers still have cap room to work with and, if they were to cut Nick Young, could have roughly $13 million in cap room left this offseason. Moreover, rumors have been circulating that they’re saving that cap space in order to make a move similar to the Calderon trade and are said to have targets in mind.
This of course begs the question of who that target is. If it’s in the same light as Calderon, you have to figure that it’s an expiring deal that would fit somewhere around that $13 million figure.
Here’s a look at three potential targets that the Lakers could be looking at for a trade.
(Note: All players mentioned are based purely on speculation. There are no rumors involved)
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