It has been a long time since the NBA has seen restricted free agency successfully utilized to steal another team's talent. You would have to search the offseason logs from over half a decade ago to find the last instance of a RFA getting an offer sheet and his team not matching it.
That was the case with Bogdan Bogdanovic in 2020. The former Sacramento King relocated to the Atlanta Hawks in free agency after his organization did not match the four-year, $72 million deal that was presented to him. Since then? Nothing.
There have been seldom-seen moments of offer sheets being given out after that moment, but none have successfully yielded a player switching teams. Their organizations matched. The Los Angeles Lakers, who could set themselves up with cap space, have an opportunity to buck that trend. Dave McMenamin noted that Rob Pelinka and company have done their homework on this RFA class.
"There are several restricted free agents the Lakers have already done their due diligence on, sources familiar with the team's thinking told ESPN."
Lakers need apron restrictions to help them with a successful offer sheet
If the Lakers are throwing an offer sheet at someone this summer, there are four names who stick out as candidates to be recipients of that. That would be Jalen Duren, Walker Kessler, Tari Eason, and Peyton Watson.
To many, this may seem like a fruitless endeavor. However, the Lakers could have real reason to think differently about the situation. That would be due to the first and second aprons.
Even if matching some of these offer sheets would not immediately cause salary cap and apron problems for the teams looking to retain the guys above, there are long-term implications of simplying buying back in on these guys without a second thought.
Take Kessler and the Utah Jazz for example. The Jazz do not have a ton of big money committed to their top talent. The can afford to bring back their young center. However, if they are forced to match an offer sheet for Kessler that comes in around $35 million, to throw a number out there, they suddenly have far less flexibility for the Keyonte George extension they need to work on.
By contrast, a situation like Watson and the Denver Nuggets is far more dire. Matching an offer sheet would take the Nuggets over the second apron and crush their financial maneuverability altogether without cutting loose either Christian Braun or Cameron Johnson.
The added hurdles of navigating the first and second apron is where the Lakers will hope they can catch someone off their game. Alternatively, they could also apply pressure that forces the rival team to consider a favorable sign-and-trade scenario for Los Angeles.
Restricted free agency has become a bit of an afterthought in the summer, and with good reason. That does not mean the possibility of capitalizing on someone else's financial hesitancy should be taken off the board altogether, especially with those dreaded aprons looming large.
Add us as a preferred source on Google