3 Los Angeles Lakers offseason mistakes that look even worse now
By Jason Reed
1. The Los Angeles Lakers not re-signing Alex Caruso
If you are a returning reader of Lake Show Life then you have heard all of the reasons why the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t re-sign Alex Caruso and why it did not make sense. To make a long story short, the Lakers did not re-sign Caruso as the team is over the luxury tax and the payments that would have been tacked on with a Caruso deal were deemed too high by the team.
Essentially, the Lakers chose Talen Horton-Tucker over Caruso as they received two similar salaries. On the surface, this makes sense. It doesn’t.
The Lakers are a billion-dollar franchise that makes tens if not hundreds of millions in profit on the bottom line every year. If any team can afford a tax penalty it is the Lakers and they outwardly decided to choose the checkbook over winning.
This was not a situation where they wanted to save the cap space for someone else. This cannot be spun as strategic saving for the cap. It was penny-pinching.
And what do you know? Caruso has continued right where he left off with the Lakers. He is still one of the best defensive guards in the league and is making a measurable impact on the Chicago Bulls. With the Lakers being one of the worst defensive teams in the league, this mistake absolutely looks worse.