Rob Pelinka has already laid the foundation for the Los Angeles Lakers
It is no coincidence that the Los Angeles Lakers signed all their role players to two-year deals in what has been called ‘The Summer of Anthony Davis‘. The front office is fully prepared to deliver a devastating blow to the rest of the league at the conclusion of next season.
The Lakers are currently maxed out in regards to the cap with the big earners being LeBron James ($37.4 million), Anthony Davis ($27.1 million), and Danny Green ($14.6 million). The current NBA salary cap is $109 million, but current projections have it at $125 million for the 2021-2022 season when Giannis will hit the open market. Only time will tell if COVID-19 has any effect on that number.
For the sake of this exercise, let’s use $125 million for our number. LeBron will be under contract for $40 million. That’s a hefty number that already absorbs roughly one-third of the cap space.
Say Anthony Davis signs his max deal this off-season in Los Angeles. It would be in the neighborhood of $40 million per season. There goes another third of the space. Giannis can take the additional third, but there’s a chance that with a $125 million cap number, his contract would not fit under the cap.
The idea of AD and LeBron taking small pay cuts makes this work. The Lakers could theoretically fill their roster with ring chasers and would still have their MLE slot for the 2021-2022 season.