In a world restricted by the NBA's salary cap rules, one franchise's problem almost always turns into another franchise's solution. Consider, for example, the offseason outlooks for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers.
The Cavs have the most expensive roster in the NBA, and it's naturally beginning to catch up with them. According to NBA insider Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Cleveland likely won't be able to afford either Dean Wade or Keon Ellis this summer once both wings become unrestricted free agents. This makes both players highly available to a squad like the Lakers, who are on the hunt for two-way wings.
The Cavaliers can't afford to keep their current roster together
Vardon's take rests on a couple of assumptions that aren't hard to qualify -- namely, that options for James Harden (player option) and Craig Porter Jr. (team option) will be exercised. Harden may opt out, but if so, it would likely be to sign another deal with Cleveland that's worth less per year but still adds a chunk of significant cash to their cap sheet.
"If you plug the options for Harden and Porter into the cap sheet and slot the No. 29 pick in the draft, the Cavs are $224.8 million, which is almost $5 million over the second apron — with 12 players on roster," Vardon wrote. "It would mean nothing more than minimum contracts to fill out the roster, including for unrestricted free agents Dean Wade and Ellis, who are both almost sure to command far more than that on the open market."
Dean Wade and Keon Ellis both make sense for the Lakers
Wade and Ellis are two-way wings that make all the sense in the world for a Lakers team looking to surround Luka Doncic with versatile, two-way wings who can shoot.
Don't forget, though, that the Lakers aren't exactly operating with bounteous cap space this offseason if they're planning on signing Austin Reaves to a new max deal and re-signing LeBron James (who is reportedly not interested in taking a pay cut to join the Cavs ... if that's any indication of what a potential Lakers reunion might look like financially).
Still, the Lakers surely have far more flexibility, at least at the present moment, than the Cavaliers do, which makes both Wade and Ellis potential targets. In other words, this is not even close to the last time you'll be hearing about the Lakers and Cavs linked together in offseason buzz.
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