The Los Angeles Lakers cap situation
Here’s what we know:
- Anthony Davis is expected to opt-out of his player option and re-sign with the Lakers.
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has announced that he will opt-out and leave a little over $8 million on the table to explore free agency.
- Rajon Rondo also will reportedly opt-out of his minimum contract.
- The Lakers’ front office signed Quinn Cook through next season, but only $1 million is guaranteed.
- LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, and Danny Green are all signed through next season and should all be back on the Purple and Gold.
- Jared Dudley, Markieff Morris, JR Smith, Dion Waiters, and Dwight Howard are all unrestricted free agents.
- Avery Bradley has a player option for $5 million, and nobody knows what he’s thinking.
- JaVale McGee also has a player option, and he’ll probably opt-in.
It now seems likely that KCP will leverage his playoff success as the Lakers’ starting point guard to ink an inflated multi-year contract. “Inflated” is the keyword here. KCP did come up clutch for the Purple and Gold in the playoffs, but his defense is still mediocre, and he’s far from a pure 3-point shooter. The Lakers will have better options.
It will be a surprise if Rajon Rondo signs on with another organization. He’s probably opted out so that he can ink one last multi-year deal to run it back with LeBron James and the Lakers.
Quinn Cook got almost no run throughout the regular season and the playoffs. It’s easy to see Rob Pelinka cutting him and looking for a better two-way point guard.
Jared Dudley and JR Smith are on their last NBA legs and will probably go unsigned next season. Dion Waiters is an interesting case because he’s smack in his prime and would give the Lakers another shot creator, but Frank Vogel had already yanked him from the rotation even before his injury. Maybe Waiters needs the offseason to get in shape, but he doesn’t fit the two-way mold that this version of the Lakers covets.
Avery Bradley and Dwight Howard are two difficult reads. They will garner plenty of interest from other squads, but Dwight Howard has expressed interest in re-upping with the Lakers next season.
In the end, the Lakers could head into free agency with seven players on the roster—James, Davis, Caruso, Green, Rondo, Howard, and the 28th pick. It’s hard to say precisely how much money the Lakers will have to spend in free agency.
We do know the purple and gold have the $10 million mid-level exception, $4 million bi-annual exception, and they should have a little extra money to play with if KCP and a few other players don’t wind up back in Hollywood next year.
That gives the Lakers a lot of options.
Let’s get a few of the farfetched possibilities out of the way. It will be nearly impossible for the Lakers to dump Danny Green’s awful contract onto another team. Danny Green was miserable on offense and meandering on defense throughout the season. No organization is looking to add a 3-and-D player who is owed $15 million next season but doesn’t shoot well from deep or play good defense.
The Lakers would love to land Goran Dragic, but why would he come to LA? He just helped guide the Miami Heat to the finals, and by all accounts, he loves it down in South Beach. He’ll likely run it back with Jimmy Butler and Bam Abedayo next season.
The Lakers can’t afford Fred VanVleet. He’s the top point guard available this offseason, and he’ll get a big offer from one organization or another.
There are two realistic free agents who fit perfectly on this version of the Lakers.
The Lakers have a shot at unrestricted free agent, Serge Ibaka. Only a handful of teams– the Hawks, Knicks, Pistons, Hornets, Heat, and Suns– will have real money to spend during the offseason. Serge Ibaka could join the Heat, but it’s hard to imagine the 31-year-old signing with any of the other bottom feeders that can afford to offer him a big payday.
The Miami Heat already have Bam Abedayo. He plays a similar role as Ibaka, but he’s younger and better. The Heat have no real need for Serge. The Lakers, however, would love to land Serge Ibaka. With no great options out there, it’s easy to envision him signing a one-year deal to chase a ring with the Lakers for the $10 million mid-level exception.
Serge would fit perfectly in the starting rotation at center next to AD and LBJ. Ibaka averaged 15 points per game last season for the Toronto Raptors while shooting 39 percent from deep. On defense, he’s still a shot altering menace next to the rim, and like Davis, he also has the agility to stay in front of smaller players on the perimeter.
Joe Harris, the 29-year-old sharpshooter from the Brooklyn Nets, is also entering free agency as an unrestricted free agent. He shot 42 percent from deep last season, and at 6’6″ 220 pounds, he’s a better overall defender than Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The stats back up his defensive ability. He finished last season with a 0.24 mark in ESPN’s defensive real plus-minus. At the same time, KCP came in 63 out of 138 shooting guards in DRPM (-0.82).
There are many other intriguing options for the Lakers:
Bryan Forbes, the San Antonio Spurs 3-and-D shooting guard, is an unrestricted free agent. He’d slide in perfectly next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the starting lineup.
Aron Baynes, the Phoenix Suns backup center, is also on the market. His long-distance shot and solid defense would make him a great addition to the Lakers reserve unit.
Jae Crowder’s another player the Lakers’ front office should take a swipe at. He’s a tough-nosed defender with a reliable 3-point shot.
Paul Milsap and Wesley Matthews are two veteran minimum candidates who are well into their 30s but have never made it to the finals. They both played excellent defense last season while shooting better than average from deep.
In the end, the Lakers rotation could look like this:
Starters:
- Alex Caruso
- Joe Harris
- LeBron James
- Anthony Davis
- Serge Ibaka
Reserves:
- Rajon Rondo
- Bryan Forbes
- Danny Green
- Kyle Kuzma
- Paul Milsap
- JaVale McGee
- Dwight Howard