Lakers Rumors: Soon to be Cleveland Cavaliers West, the guards

The Los Angeles Lakers are quickly turning into the Cleveland Cavaliers of the Western Conference when LeBron James reigned there. These are some guards who have been involved in Lakers rumors that would continue the Cavaliers west trend.

We are closing in on June 30th 6:00 PM EST when Los Angeles Lakers rumors will come to a head. What’s going on you ask? The NBA free agency bonanza starts where teams start (officially) going after players on the GM’s dream sheet. Realistically free agency won’t start until Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard make their decisions on what they want to do for their respective futures.

As for the Los Angeles Lakers, the future is strictly based off their salary cap or what is left of it. Unless you have been under a rock, the Los Angeles Lakers finally closed the book on negotiations trading Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and the 4th pick in the NBA Draft along with future draft picks to the Pelicans for Anthony Davis.

Sure the Lakers got their superstar, but they gave up a whole bunch to get him. The goal was to land another superstar to play with LeBron James and Anthony Davis and go from there.

The only problem is according to reports, Rob Pelinka and the rest of the front office skipped a few steps in a rush to get Davis in the fold. Then there are others like Bill Oram of The Athletic that don’t.

"The most important objective for the Lakers was to secure Anthony Davis and not lose him to the Celtics or some other team. That would have been the ultimate catastrophe. So, they took care of priority 1A, which set the FLOOR for their offseason. So now they have both Anthony Davis and at WORST the $24 million in cap space. Upon the time they agreed, they still had time to massage the mechanics of the deal if necessary and further incentivize a delay with cash or second round picks or whatever. Dumping Jemerrio Jones/Moe Wagner/Isaac Bonga in advance would also seem imprudent. If you need their $ to sign Kyrie, then it makes sense to sacrifice them. If not, and you’re trying to build out a roster, these are young players on team-controlled contracts who the team has worked to develop."

Now ESPN’s Brian Windhorst is reporting that the Lakers MAY NOT have the $24 million dollar cap space that is widely believed. With Reggie Bullock‘s contract with a cap hold of about $4 million dollars, the team will have to take that into consideration as well.

Jeanie Buss gave Pelinka a vote of confidence at the NBA Awards.

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Lake Show Life has covered the Lakers front office to exhaustion (staff as well as fans) on the mystery of who is actually is in control of the Lakers going forward. Many have put in their two cents on the way the Lakers front office is being run.

LaVar Ball had his opinion around the trade deadline on FS1. Like it or not, as it turned out the next couple of months, he actually was right.

Lakers rumors started to shift on draft night when they made a deal with the Orlando Magic to jump into the second round to draft Talen Horton-Tucker.

It really wasn’t about his talent as opposed to who he was associated with.

I did a piece around the trade deadline about the mission statement changing from the youth movement to a team that LeBron James was comfortable with. I called it “LeBron’s corporate takeover”. 

With Kyle Kuzma the only holdover from the young core and possibly Isaac Bonga, Moritz Wagner and Jemerrio Jones being shopped for cap space for a potential third star, the Lakers will be chasing cheap veteran talent. These players are either looking for certain situations family wise, looking to stay in the league or trying to join the LeBron James “I want a ring” program.

There have been rumors of the Lakers looking at Kemba Walker, Kyrie Irving and most recently D’Angelo Russell. If the front office can make the numbers work, the rest of the roster will be loaded with veterans in minimum contracts.

My partner in crime on the Lake Show Life staff, Andrew Stevens III wrote a piece about the option of LeBron James just taking over control of the organization.  It’s articles like these written in advance that is now being talked in mainstream media now.

Lake Show Life will be doing a three-part series on how to build this squad in the image of LeBron James on a shoestring budget. The one thing that Ryan Hollins says is true, LeBron James knows the blueprint and the Lakers will have to execute.

Part one will be getting guards on the roster. Let’s see who the Lakers fans realistically will see next season.

Reggie Bullock; well it’s kind of complicated

When the Lakers struck out on Anthony Davis at the trade deadline, they brought in Mike Muscala (Yeah I know right? Stop laughing!) and Reggie Bullock in to make a playoff run.

Reggie Bullock was brought in from Detroit for Svi Mykhailiuk, who had been struggling with his shot all season long.

At the time Bullock was averaging 12 points, just under three rebounds and two assists. The main reason the Lakers wanted him was the 39 percent average from behind the arc.

For the most part, Bullock’s shot did not travel to the West Coast. He averaged about nine points a game and his 3-point shooting fell off. He did play well against the Atlanta Hawks in the Lakers last game before the All-Star break.

It just got lost in a humiliating loss when LeBron James decided defense was an option instead of a necessity.

He got nutmegged not just once but twice.

Looking back, Reggie Bullock should possibly have a second chance in a more stable environment. The Lakers were a sinking ship at this point and the locker room was in chaos. With LeBron James playing defense this year (Trust me Lionel Hollins will make sure of that) and Anthony Davis being a threat, Bullock will have plenty of open shots to knock down.

Also, financially, the Lakers may not have a choice.

Reggie Bullock signed a two-year, $5 million dollar contract with the Pistons back in 2017. Bullock is to receive $2.5 million dollars this season if he plays for the Lakers. Here’s how his contract affects the salary cap. In 2019-20, Bullock’s contract carries a $4,750,000 cap hit.

Meaning…

Rob Pelinka and co. will have a lot of work to do to get to the magical $32 million dollar level that seemingly they are confident that they can get to. But keeping Bullock on the roster will not be a bad thing.

It might be the only thing. Speaking of players on the roster that may return.

Not last year’s Rajon Rondo, but the Pelicans Rajon Rondo

Hear me out, folks. I will be the first one to declare that Rajon Rondo was a major disruption to the team last year.

From the fight with Chris Paul, to his beef with Stephen A. Smith, to sitting down next to rapper 2-Chainz’s son on the bench in a loss getting called out by Mark Jackson…

I’m talking about the Rajon Rondo who was the point guard in New Orleans when he teamed up with Anthony Davis to dominate the Portland Trail Blazers in a sweep a couple of years ago. The chemistry between the two can be used on this veteran-laden squad.

We all remember the run Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum had this year in the playoffs. Rajon Rondo worked well with Jrue Holiday to basically take this top 3 backcourt apart.

Here’s how you bring Rondo back into the fold. Number one, do not hand him $9 million dollars. The signing last year was probably was for cap space for this summer. Okay, mission accomplished.

Now, pay the man his market value; veteran’s minimum. Then place him on the bench in a backup role. Alvin Gentry gave him that option in New Orleans and he earned his way into playing time in the playoffs. The Lakers can do the same.

Now that Anthony Davis is on the team, Rajon Rondo will see this as his last chance for a ring before he retires. He wants to stay. Plus, are there really any other contenders that want him?

Enough about the options that are on the team. Let’s talk about players from the Cleveland days.

J.R. Smith is coming Lakers fans. Let’s talk positives here

Look I get it, when reports from Yahoo! Sports, Chris Haynes got out that J.R. Smith could possibly be in a Lakers uniform this year, fans were probably thinking back to this very moment on May 31, 2018.

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Sure J.R. Smith will live in infamy of social media gifs, but Smith won a title with LeBron James back in 2016. People will always remember the LeBron James block on Andre Iguodola. People remember the Kyrie Irving shot over Stephen Curry to win the NBA Finals.

What gets overlooked in Game 7 was the eight crucial points that Smith scored in the third quarter of that game that cut into the Warriors lead and got the Cavaliers back into the game. Sure the Cavaliers sent J.R. Smith away for the season but remember why Smith was so upset.

As told to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic.

"“I don’t think the goal is to win. The goal isn’t to go out there and try to get as many wins as you can. I think the goal is to develop and lose to get lottery picks. I think that was always the plan.”"

He wasn’t lying, was he? Ty Lue got fired. Then his replacement, Larry Drew, got fired and the Cavs were 2-13 when Smith left the team. The Cavaliers have been trying to trade him because Smith refused a buyout.

Now the Cavaliers have to speed up the process. I mean you’d be upset too right? How do you go from NBA Finals runs to a youth movement with all of your minutes being taken away?

The Cavaliers have Smith under contract for $15.7 million dollars and as of this writing, only $3 million is guaranteed. At least for say, about 3 to 4 more days.

Next month, the contract is fully guaranteed. If Smith is traded away, most believe he will be waived immediately. As a fan of J. R. Smith, I would like to give some advice on how to handle a mercurial talent that is more combustible than Rajon Rondo.

J.R. Smith is effective when he realizes that one bad move can get him a spot overseas. Smith spent time in China and when he got back to the NBA with the Knicks, for a short span, Smith teamed with Carmelo Anthony as the NBA’s hottest duo. Then he got an extension and the bad behavior started.

Remember when Phil Jackson basically gave him away for a box of Newports and Puma sweats to Cleveland? What did J.R. do? He behaved. Then he got an extension from the Cavaliers.

Get the connection?

Give J.R. Smith a one year deal at the league minimum. The Lakers need shooters around playoff time and Smith is not afraid to shoot.

A funny thing happened recently; Kyle Korver was traded to Memphis! 

While J.R. Smith was stuck in Cleveland, Kyle Korver got lucky and got traded to the Utah Jazz. Last week, Korver was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in a package that landed Mike Conley Jr. With Memphis blowing up the Grit N’ Grind era to go young featuring Ja Morant, it is highly unlikely that Korver will be hopping the plane for Memphis.

Like his former teammate Smith, Korver has a partially guaranteed contract that goes into effect on July 7th. Most believe that Memphis will buy Korver out and leave him open for the Lakers to make an offer for him.

I don’t see Kyle Korver playing more than one or two more years, so the appeal of playing with the combination of Anthony Davis and LeBron James for a possible title run would appeal to him. He may never have an opportunity to have more open shots in his career than he would with two top-5 players in the NBA on the floor. Even his man would have to leave him to double team those two.

The NBA already knows Kyle Korver doesn’t need much room to get his shot off.

If the Lakers can get Korver, they need to get him. Even if it means using the mid-level exception. Korver would be a vital piece to the Lakers offense.

How vital?

When the Warriors swept the Cavaliers two years ago, head coach Steve Kerr told reporters that the defensive plan was to shut down Korver’s opportunities. Considering LeBron James was on the same team at the time, that says a lot.

With Malcolm Brogdon in demand, George Hill may be done in Milwaukee!

Lots of Lakers fans would love to see Malcolm Brogdon in L.A. next year. Let’s deal with reality here.

Sorry, not going to happen. Brogdon is a restricted free agent. Will he get an offer? Yes, probably by a few teams. The man can flat-out shoot. But I believe that the Bucks will match any offer. I mean, there are not many 50-40-90 players floating around the NBA these days.

Oh, that’s right; he’s the only one.

However, that can open up an opportunity for the Lakers. George Hill will be entering the final year of his contract at $18 million dollars. Here’s where it gets good; only $1 million of it is guaranteed. For the Bucks to match any offer for Brogdon while clearing room for that Giannis Antetokounmpo guy that just won the NBA MVP, George Hill probably will be bought out and waived.

George Hill would be a perfect candidate for taking the veteran’s minimum. He’s already cashed in $20 million and $19 million dollar salaries over the next two seasons. He’s already been on a LeBron James team and would provide leadership in the locker room.

It’s not over for George Hill, his performance in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals turned the series around and provided momentum as the Bucks blew past the Celtics in dominating fashion.

LeBron James needs veterans that are professional and know how to prepare for big games. George Hill is that guy. Gregg Popovich loved him in San Antonio. When he was traded, it wasn’t for a sack of potatoes. I mean we all know him, Kawhi Leonard. When Hill was traded, Popovich stated how upsetting it was to let him go for Leonard’s draft rights.

An NBA champion that will gladly stay on the West Coast for the minimum!

People forget about Iman Shumpert playing on the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers. He will be an excellent addition for the Lakers for the league minimum.

His wife is Teyana Taylor who is an accomplished singer/actor/director/producer. Like LeBron James, who has business in Los Angeles, so does the Shumpert family. After playing the second half of the season in Houston, it is highly unlikely that he will be re-signed in Houston. With all the chaos that is going on with the Rockets, I really don’t think Shumpert cares.

All of the previous players have been quality shooters. But basketball is played on both ends. In Cleveland, Shumpert was one of the Cavs best wing defenders while being capable of knocking down the corner 3-point shot.

With Frank Vogel bringing in a defensive identity while Lionel Hollins makes sure the plan is carried out, Iman Shumpert could be valuable for the veteran’s minimum.

All of these guys are veterans and they are all cheap!

To the people who believe that J.J. Redick, Seth Curry or Wayne Ellington should be on this list is missing the point. Shooting is a premium now in today’s NBA and they will command more money over more years than these guys on the list.

The Lakers will be filling the roster with veteran’s playing for the minimum hoping for one last championship run. If the Lakers get one more star, don’t be surprised if five to six players fall into this category to avoid luxury taxes.

But the one thing that has been made clear by this team, the structure of how this roster will be built in LeBron James’ image whether Lakers fans like it or not. Now the Lakers are totally pushing their chips in to make a run for the NBA championship this year.

Lake Show Life will be examining the forwards next in our series on players the Lakers will have to look at for bargain basement prices. Be on the lookout for them leading up to the free agency bonanza this weekend.