Veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link) has confirmed that the Lakers remain ineligible to sign free agent swingman Stanley Johnson.
NBA rules prohibit Team A (in this case, the Lakers) from signing a player when he’s traded to Team B (ie. Utah) and that team waives him later in the season (or during the following season, if the trade took place during the offseason).
In this specific case, Johnson – after being cut by Utah – was signed and then waived by Team C (San Antonio), but the restriction on the Lakers remains in place. If the Jazz had hung onto Johnson, traded him to the Spurs, and he had subsequently been released by San Antonio, the restriction on the Lakers would no longer apply.
While there has been no indication the Lakers actually had interest in bringing back Johnson, the application of this particular rule is still worth clarifying for any similar instances in the future.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report considers how the Lakers‘ moves at the trade deadline will affect their offseason, outlining their various cap options and taking a look at their potential luxury tax situation for 2023/24.
- Suns star Devin Booker, who won a gold medal with Kevin Durant at the Tokyo Olympics, is thrilled to be teaming up with Durant in the NBA and proud of the fact that he has helped turn Phoenix into a desirable destination for stars, per Nick Friedell of ESPN. “We built something that the league has picked up on,” Booker said. “We were probably the laughingstock of the NBA about four or five years ago, and just turning that around to something serious to championship contenders is a quick turnaround for us, so we take a lot of pride in what we’ve built here. For us to be a destination that Kev wanted to come to is a big sign of that, to show respect of what we’ve done so far. We still have more to do, but we’re moving in the right direction.”
- John Hollinger of The Athletic is skeptical that the Warriors will be in line for any significant compensation based on the NBA’s investigation into whether the Trail Blazers disclosed certain medical information about Gary Payton II. In Hollinger’s view, Golden State would be lucky to get back one of the five second-round picks that went to Portland in the deal.
Cavs should go and grab Johnson. He’d be a perfect fit for the hole at the 3, and Danny Green isn’t any sort of fit other than “veteran off the bench”. Then try and grab Nerlens Noel after Detroit buys him out.
Deal.
Stanley, come back to DET!
If Payton is out a month or more the warriors should either get a draft pick back or Portland pays Payton’s salary for the time he is out.
Amendment is not allowable by the rule?
The key argument point is
Did Blazers provide enough medical information to Warriors?
the league can rule after a investigation but it only can be draft picks or money but not players.
The Warriors should sign Patrick Beverley to replace GP2 while he’s out. In fact, it makes all the sense in the world, so it’ll never happen
they need a big guy more than another small guy on the court.
People were saying that every day last year. Even more so after Wiseman went down. I really don’t think it matters to the Warriors. They’re going to succeed or fail regardless of their backup Center rotation.
they get pushed around by much taller teams. In the playoffs its all about match ups and a team that is much bigger they will never get by. Suns and Nuggets are examples of teams they struggle against because of size. Not worried about smaller teams but bigger teams. Grizzlies are a good example ever since Adams went down they can’t win.
It seems to me the Warriors had no problem with the best center in the world last year.
When the warriors beat the Nuggets they were missing their 2nd best player. When they beat Celtics their center was playing hurt.
The second best player was a point guard. Your point was the Warriors need a big man to deal with the centers in the NBA and I said they had no problem with the best center in the world.
Sure the Nuggets were missing their second best player but the issue YOU brought up was the big man. They had no problem with the Nuggets big man.
Yes the Celtics missed quite a bit when Robert Williams was out. He’s huge for them and if he had played the Celtics might have taken the series and the championship.
But since he was out, the Warriors once again had no problem with the opposing team’s big men. So why do the Warriors need a big man again as was first brought up here by YOU?
ARC 2, it seems like you just want to argue even if you have to change the subject. Have you ever once told another poster, yes you’re correct or yes you’re right?
Yeah so they gave away. The best young big in NBA. For a small guy that can’t play for over a month.
Warriors are done this yr. And their window could be closed now.
“Best young big in the NBA” literally half the forwards and centers in the league would like a word xD Wiseman has potential, but he hasn’t achieved anything yet.
Lakers should sign Irving in June and win championships
Pay cut is always good for the team
No matter you go, you’ll always be there