Los Angeles Lakers: What is next for Luol Deng after being waived

What is next for the Los Angeles Lakers and Luol Deng after the two sides agreed to a buyout?

The Luol Deng saga with the Los Angeles Lakers is now over. Deng is giving back $7.5 million dollars in his buyout agreement with the Lakers. The Lakers are happy. They have cleared an absurd $38 million dollars in cap space for 2019 free agency. Not only that the team saved money on the stretch provision over three years.

You heard it first here on Lake Show Life…

Cue the Academy award music, please…And the NBA Executive of the Year goes to…

EARVIN “MAGIC” JOHNSON!!!!!

Cue the announcer with the annoying whispering voice…

This is the first award for Johnson as he has basically set the Lakers up for dynasty status after the Golden State Warriors get bored or Steph Curry and Kevin Durant start fighting over who’s team it is.

The Lakers with this move might be able to poach the Warriors obtaining Kevin Durant or Klay Thompson.

While Magic is hugging everybody like he did after his first pro game when he nearly choked Kareem Abdul Jabbar after he hit the game-winning shot to beat the Clippers, Luol Deng is happy too. He gets to go out and find a team to get playing time.

More from Lake Show Life

But will he get it? Most articles covering this story will be the same as the other two articles on Lake Show Life covering this. Check them out, they are educating and entertaining. Backstories and numbers and Luol Deng moving on.

Not this one…Luol Deng needs to hear this.

Luol Deng’s career is over…UNLESS Tom Thibodeau bails him out and gives him a minimum level contract. It might happen, look what happened with Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson, shoot Joakim Noah might get a look after New York gets rid of him.

But here’s the kicker…it might not even be fully guaranteed. Other than that, MAYBE a bottom feeder team will sign him to training camp contract.

Luol Deng, fair or not, is attached to the biggest fiasco in Lakers history. His contract was the BIGGEST mistake of all of the mistakes that the Buss/Kupchak regime made over a five-year span. To be clear here, there was a ton.

Luol…from someone who cares, please read this. If someone can get this to him…do so.

There is absolutely no market for you. The NBA has moved on to a style that makes your game obsolete. The Lakers showed that to you when they tried to trade you. Luol they tried. MAN! They tried.

The buyout shows that nobody was going to take you in a trade without taking ALL of the young players, the draft picks and free season tickets next to Jack Nicholson to watch LeBron James play.

Your position, which we’ll all assume is the small forward, are considered stretch forwards now. Meaning you have to show some ability to shoot the three. You can’t blame the new regime of the Lakers for this.

Blame Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and everyone associated with the Golden State Warriors. Probably the announcers can knock down threes at this point. I’ll bet you have to knock down three of ten behind the arc just to drive the bus.

If you don’t want to blame those guys…well there’s Mike D’Antoni. He basically designed an offense that entails just shooting threes, lay-ups, pick and rolls and if all else fails, roll the ball to Chris Paul and James Harden and watch them do something.

Let’s see here Luol, according to the stats shown on ESPN.com, you’ve shot 33.2 percent for your career. Now taking a closer look, it shows that you have shot less than 30 percent three times. To make my point crystal clear, you played an 82 game season in Chicago when you shot a not so robust 14 percent.

Let’s move on.

The defense that you showed in a Los Angeles uniform was not good. There were times I don’t think you could guard Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, or Kobe Bryant. Not the men, the statues outside the Staples Center. It was bad Luol Deng, it was bad.

As for playing time…you mind telling any knowledgeable fan where you can go and get some significant time? The NBA landscape is basically this…

SHHH! Don’t tell anybody, but maybe only three teams have a legitimate shot at not getting swept in a playoff series against the Warriors, right?

So here’s the plan. The other teams are developing young players and will make their runs in a few years. Kind of like what the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers are doing. Hope it works, have you seen what is going on at Golden State? David West retires, Zaza Pachulia is gone. You’ve seen JaVale McGee around the facilities, right? They’re getting young too!

Finally Luol, and this is not a good thing. NBA.com reported that you possibly declined to get back in the rotation when the injury bug hit the Lakers last year.

If this is true…let’s say theoretically. What team would want you? A player that has been in the league as long as you will only be brought in as a mentor to the young guys. I mean like Rajon Rondo. I mean you have seen him around the facilities too right?

If you thought the Lakers weren’t playing you, what team is going to take a legitimate chance wasting a roster spot on a player that basically hasn’t played in a year? Plus, when they get a read of the official NBA WEBSITE! GMs can get bought out too you know?

I get the frustration might have gotten to you, but this is bad. You see if you wanted to be traded, you should have played. That way the Lakers could showcase your abilities and possibly set up a deal…maybe. No one is going to trade for the highest salary on the team and the last positive thing you did for the Lakers was when Barack Obama was in office when you spelled your name right on the contract.

They say money isn’t everything, even though giving someone $7.5 million dollars to leave is something to behold. Even Carmelo Anthony didn’t give back that much to Atlanta. He’s going to make that up in Houston.

Luol Deng…

Where are you going to make up your money?