Why the Los Angeles Lakers cannot get a third star under new CBA

Ever since the 2008 championship Boston Celtics team introduced the modern “big three” with Garnett, Allen, and Pierce, it has almost been assumed that any contender favorite needs three stars in their starting five to have a real chance. The Los Angeles Lakers changed this scheme, though, in their two-star model that won the 2020 NBA Championship.

Since then, a number of attempted super teams have fallen flat. Take, for example, the tragically talented Brooklyn Nets. And, under the coming Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the Association will have the closest thing to a hard cap that the league has ever seen thus far.

Plenty of word has been spread surrounding the $179.5 million second tax apron already. Once that number is breached, teams are incapable of signing any new free agents for anything other than a veteran minimum. Additionally, teams in this second apron cannot take on extra salary in trades – not even a penny.

Certain teams are already fated to face the repercussions of the second apron, namely the Lakers’ hometown rivals Los Angeles Clippers with a cap sheet currently over $200 million.

With rumors buzzing around Kyrie Irving’s interest in reuniting with LeBron James and Damian Lillard’s looming future in Portland, the Lakers might find these deals not just improbable, but impossible.

How does this impact the Lakers’ future?

In short, the Lakers are going to have to stick with the LeBron-Davis core until James retires or Davis leaves.

There are already plenty of pending free agents in Los Angeles. The Lakers are likely to retain both Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura this offseason, and possibly D’Angelo Russell. As of now, the Lakers are still capable of using a full Mid Level Exception worth just over $12 million. Attempting to bring on another star alongside even just two of their three free agents, the Lakers would likely find themselves teasing the second apron.

The short-term future of the Lakers will look similar to last year’s roster, barring any miracle front-office moves.

In the long term, the purple and gold will shift their aim toward cheap short contracts. The value of playing in the City of Angels has enough allure to bring cheap talent in free agency, but those contracts will probably be one or two-year “prove it” deals similar to Malik Monk’s time in Los Angeles.

Secondly, the Lakers already have found plenty of talent either late in the NBA draft or in undrafted rookie signings. These methods of talent acquisition will be exponentially more valuable to fill out a rotation on team-friendly deals next to a star-studded core.

In the end, the Lakers will need to strategically select their headlining talent and covet their draft stock. Finding All-NBA talent that wants to play in LA will not be a tall task, but the route to attaining them might be more complex than ever before.

Building a roster will never look the same. The NBA has made it clear its intention to halt the super team model in favor of parity across the league. Depth will rule over top-heavy teams. The league has been shifting toward this model over time already, but the new CBA has written it in stone.

Los Angeles has the stars and the depth to compete still, and they will have a chance to observe the outcome of teams attempting to continue the super team model. As LeBron’s legendary career is seemingly coming closer to an end, the next era of Lakers basketball will have the opportunity to blaze the path to success in a new NBA landscape. The timing in the new CBA might be absolutely perfect for the Lakers, assuming their management pay attention and plan for the future now.