The Los Angeles Lakers are absolutely going to look to improve the team from last season after being prematurely eliminated from the NBA Playoffs by the Phoenix Suns in the first round. While their options seem limited, there are some fun possibilities for the purple and gold.
The latest possibility seems almost too good to be true. There has been speculation among Laker fans about the team potentially targeting DeMar DeRozan or Kyle Lowry, both of which would have to go to the Lakers via a sign-and-trade.
The idea of getting them both never existed, that is, until the reports surfaced that the two former teammates are potentially interested in joining forces together in Los Angeles. DeRozan has been more vocal about his desire to potentially play in Los Angeles.
It sounds absurd, but the Los Angeles Lakers can absolutely trade for both DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry.
Our own Ronald Agers broke down the DeRozan/Lowry situation when the reports first dropped. I recommend checking out his article as he explains it perfectly. Here, we are going to give you the actual trades that can create the best starting five in the entire NBA.
Both players have the ball in their court as free agents as they can use that leverage to maneuver a deal to LA. Of course, either the Raptors or Spurs could say no out of pure pettiness but that should not keep either team from improving themselves instead of letting the free agents walk for nothing in return.
Let’s first start with DeRozan.
How the Los Angeles Lakers can trade for DeMar DeRozan:
Again, DeRozan does have the ball in his court as he has the ability to demand a sign-and-trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, telling the Spurs he will leave either way and this way they can get something for him. As long as the Spurs are smart, they should say yes.
San Antonio still needs a valuable return in this deal. It makes no sense for the Spurs to take on a trade that puts them in a worse situation financially. Flipping DeRozan for a young asset as well as a shooter that can be flipped to another contender for more assets could be the way to go.
If DeRozan had time left on his contract this probably would not be enough. However, without that leverage, the Spurs would be much more likely to take this deal as long as they are okay with the idea of helping the Lakers. I do not see why they wouldn’t be as they are not contending anyways.
Gregg Popovich compared Kuzma to a young Manu Ginobili (seriously) and obviously likes the young forward. If there is going to be anyone in the league to get the most out of Kuzma it is going to be Popovich.
That is the main piece this deal is centered around. KCP is thrown in for salary reasons and could be flipped at the deadline to a different contender for more assets.
DeRozan would have to take a pay cut for this to happen but his comments indicate that he is willing to do so. He has to take one for this to be possible. A two-year, $40 million contract that is backloaded but has a player option for year two is possible. In this instance, we will assume he makes $18 million next season.
How the Los Angeles Lakers can trade for Kyle Lowry
The Toronto Raptors definitely would be more open to trading Kyle Lowry to the Lakers. There is no rivalry there between the two sides and Lowry is the greatest player in the history of the franchise. They would absolutely do him a favor and help him land where he wants to land.
That being said, the Raptors still have to get a good return for Lowry. They could replace him with Dennis Schroder at the point guard position but that is not enough. They need youth in the deal as well.
The Lakers agree to a sign-and-trade deal with Dennis Schroder as well as re-sign restricted free agent Talen Horton-Tucker to make this possible. I know that Laker fans really like THT but if you can get Lowry and DeRozan to join AD and LeBron then you do whatever it takes.
Schroder probably is not getting his $100-120 million that he wants but I can see him getting a deal in the four-year, $80 million range. That would pay him $20 million per season. Yes, it is less than the Lakers offered in the season but I am extremely doubtful that he can get anything higher than $80 million.
Talen Horton-Tucker should get $5-7.5 million per season, which fits right in with what Lowry could get.
A four-year, $90 million contract is fair for Lowry. $22.5 million may seem low, but Fanspo puts his value at $22 million based on his production last season. At 35, Lowry definitely takes a smaller salary to get four years of guaranteed money.
We will assume that the contract is backloaded a tad and he makes $20 million next season.
How the Los Angeles Lakers make this work financially
The quartet of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry would take up nearly the entire salary cap, so the Lakers would have to utilize things such as bird rights and minimum contracts.
Since they are conducting a sign-and-trade the Lakers also cannot go over the tax apron, so they are hard-capped. That makes it tricky to work out, but it definitely is doable. First, let’s break down the players that would still be on the roster.
- LeBron James, $41.18 million
- Anthony Davis, $35.36 million
- Kyle Lowry, $20 million
- DeMar DeRozan, $18 million
- Marc Gasol, $2.69 million
- Alfonzo McKinnie, $1.9 million
- $5 million dead cap hit for Luol Deng
We are assuming that Montrezl Harrell declines his player option and becomes a free agent, which seems like the most likely path with how he was used in the NBA Playoffs. That brings the total of those six players up to $124.13 million. The hard cap is $136.6 million.
The Lakers would have to punt on re-signing Alex Caruso AND using their mid-level exception. The rest of the roster would have to be filled out with minimum players, who constitute a $1.6 million cap hit.
That means the Lakers can sign seven veteran minimum players. They can get some shooters (JJ Redick, Ben McLemore, Carmelo Anthony) some bigs (Dwight Howard, Markieff Morris) and even a point guard (Jeff Teague) if needed.
It would bring the Lakers’ roster up to 13 players. That is passable and if they stagger the minutes correctly the depth should not be an issue.
It would take a pay cut from DeMar DeRozan as well as both players really wanted to join the Lakers. Is it the most likely thing to happen this offseason? Not at all. Is it possible? Absolutely.