3. Magic’s Objectives Next Season
As of now, the 2019-20 Lakers roster consists of only four guaranteed contracts: James, Wagner, rookie Isaac Bonga and veteran Luol Deng, who will almost certainly be traded or waived by then.
The team will have options on five young players: Ingram, Lonzo, Kuzma, Hart and Svi. The expectation now is the Lakers will retain all of them, but they have nearly a year to decide. The contracts of all five of the free agents signed this summer other than LeBron (KCP, Rondo, Stephenson, McGee and Beasley) will expire at the end of the season.
Therefore Johnson and Pelinka have created enough cap room to add at least one more elite free agent next season. The name that’s been mentioned the most, of course, is Leonard. Although he seldom makes public statements, his spokespeople have said he wants to play for the Lakers.
Kawhi, who has one year remaining on his contract, will be suiting up this season for Toronto. The Raptors will try to convince him to stay put just as the Thunder did with Paul George. If they are successful, there are several other potential elite free agents that Magic can aim for next summer, including Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson and Irving. Adding any one of those players to the roster could well move the team into championship contention.
In a worst-case scenario in which the Lakers are unable to lure another top free agent to LA, it is still possible that the young core will have developed enough by then to team with LeBron for a championship run. If not, Magic will most likely look to acquire another star by trade.
So far, it appears that Magic is doing the best he can to navigate what can become turbulent waters. There may be some pitfalls along the way, but in the big picture he has the franchise headed in the right direction.
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All statistics courtesy of www.basketball-reference.com