- LaVar Ball, the father of Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball, is back in the United States after younger sons LiAngelo and LaMelo wrapped up their first professional season in Lithuania. The elder Ball has been quiet since returning but if history is any indicator, it’s only a matter of time before he’s making headlines again, Martin Rogers of USA TODAY Sports writes.
- The Lakers‘ season ended early once again this season and now the team prepares for free agency and the draft. Assistant general manager, Jesse Buss, the youngest of all the Buss siblings, will be an important factor in the team’s draft plans, as Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report writes.
The NBA is planning a Summer League exhibition to take place in Sacramento in addition to scheduled tournaments in Utah and Las Vegas, according to Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders. The event is tentatively scheduled to host the Kings, Warriors, Lakers, and Heat, Dowsett notes.
The Summer League allows NBA teams to showcase roster hopefuls, young players and draftees ahead of training camp. Last November, it was reported that the Magic would not host their annual Summer League and would instead participate in the Las Vegas event. Thus, the Sacramento Summer League replaces the canceled Orlando event.
Utah’s Summer League is scheduled to occur prior to the Vegas event, but only four teams – the Celtics, Spurs, Sixers, and Jazz – played in that league last year.
As we passed along in late January, for the first time ever, all 30 NBA teams will take part in the Las Vegas Summer League in July. Last summer, 24 teams took part in the Vegas exhibition with the Knicks, Pistons, Pacers, Hornets, Magic, and Thunder sitting out the event.
“Summer League has become such an integral part of the NBA calendar, especially in Las Vegas,” NBA executive VP of basketball operations Kiki Vandeweghe said last year. “It’s grown exponentially. You kind of think about where Summer League has come from, years ago. Now it’s become this event that all 30 teams have to be a part of. … It’s a place you must be. And really, it’s become the center of basketball in the month of July.
“Anybody who is a high draft choice, a free agent trying to make it in the league or a young player trying to get some extra practice, is there,” Vandeweghe continued. “It’s a very central location that has established itself as the premier summer event for basketball in general, not just the NBA but also international as well.”
- Pre-draft team workouts are underway, with the Lakers bringing in six prospects for a look on Thursday. According to Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum SportsNet (Twitter link), Sedrick Barefield (Utah), Hayden Dalton (Wyoming), Marcus Foster (Creighton), Deng Adel (Louisville), Anas Mahmoud (Louisville), and Ethan Happ (Wisconsin) earned a look from the Lakers.
Since Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka assumed control of the Lakers’ front office early in 2017, they’ve been hoarding cap room for the summer of 2018, signing free agents to one-year contracts last offseason and acquiring players on expiring deals at the trade deadline. It’s not a lock that the Lakers use all that cap room on long-term signings this summer, but that will be one of several scenarios on the table for the franchise as it resumes its pursuit of star players.
Here’s where things currently stand for the Lakers financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2018:
Guaranteed Salary
- Luol Deng ($18,000,000)
- Lonzo Ball ($7,461,960)
- Brandon Ingram ($5,757,120)
- Kyle Kuzma ($1,689,840)
- Josh Hart ($1,655,160)
- Total: $34,564,080
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Tyler Ennis ($1,656,092)1
- Ivica Zubac ($1,544,951)2
- Thomas Bryant ($1,378,242)3
- Total: $4,579,285
Restricted Free Agents
- Julius Randle ($5,564,134 qualifying offer / $12,447,726 cap hold): Bird rights
- Travis Wear ($1,699,698 qualifying offer / $1,699,698 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Andre Ingram ($1,537,872 qualifying offer / $1,537,872 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Total: $15,685,296
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Brook Lopez ($33,963,525): Bird rights
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($21,295,073): Non-Bird rights
- Channing Frye ($14,099,733): Bird rights
- Isaiah Thomas ($11,896,651): Bird rights
- No. 25 overall pick ($1,746,957)
- Total: $83,001,939
Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000
Projected Cap Room: $48,084,682
- A handful of wild cards will impact how much cap room the Lakers have – or need – this summer. Will they waive and stretch Deng? Will they re-sign Randle or any other free agents? Will they bring back players on non-guaranteed contracts? For our projection, we’ve assumed they keep all five players on guaranteed contracts along with cap holds for Randle, their first-round pick, and five empty roster spots. That results in a total team salary of $52,915,318.
- If landing two star free agents looks like a realistic possibility, Los Angeles could create the room necessary for a pair of max contracts. For instance, by waiving and stretching Deng, renouncing Randle, and trading their first-round pick, the Lakers could create $70,423,432 in space. Ultimately, their approach to the offseason may be dictated by how their conversations with those top free agents go.
Footnotes:
- Ennis’ salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 5.
- Zubac’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after June 30.
- Bryant’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 5.
Note: Rookie scale cap holds are estimates based on salary cap projections and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- The Lakers’ director of basketball analytics, Jason Rosenfeld, has left the organization, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. Rosenfeld has accepted an MLB-related position, Pincus adds. Rosenfeld joined the Lakers in October.
- With the Thunder eliminated from the postseason, the focus now shifts to the Lakers pursuing top-tier free agents – including Paul George – to team up with their young studs, Mark Heisler of the Orange County Register writes.
- Paul George‘s upcoming free agency becomes more interesting with every Thunder loss, notes Andrew Sharp of Sports Illustrated. George said earlier this season that he wouldn’t make a decision based on the playoffs, but obviously a first-round exit won’t help Oklahoma City’s chances of keeping him. Sharp acknowledges George’s talent, but questions whether he can be a team leader and speculates that things may not turn out well for the Lakers if they sign him but not LeBron James.
Isaiah Thomas‘ hip issue has severely damaged his value on the open market, some front office executives told Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. Fears that his hip is either pre-arthritic or already arthritic will likely force the Lakers point guard to accept a one-year “prove it” deal or a two-year deal with a team option, Deveney continues. That’s a dramatic fall for a player who was expected to be a max contract candidate just a year ago, Deveney notes. One GM that Deveney talked to predicted that Thomas would have to accept a “low-risk deal.”
With the Pelicans thriving so far in the postseason without DeMarcus Cousins, ESPN’s Zach Lowe is the latest to look ahead to the big man’s upcoming free agency, exploring just how hard New Orleans will push to re-sign him. While there was once a consensus around the NBA that the small-market Pelicans, not wanting to let Cousins get away, would put a max deal on the table even after his Achilles injury, that’s far less certain now, Lowe writes.
Here are a few updates and notes from Lowe on what could be one of this offseason’s most interesting free agencies:
- The Pelicans have internally discussed the possibility of offering Cousins a two- or three-year contract worth less than the max, sources tell Lowe. The ESPN.com scribe doesn’t think that sort of offer would go over well with Cousins’ camp, but notes that New Orleans has a good amount of leverage, given the veteran center’s health — not to mention the lack of teams around the NBA with sizable cap room.
- Sources tell Lowe that most of the teams with max-level cap space aren’t expected to pursue Cousins. Some clubs are worried about his “baggage,” and he wouldn’t make much sense for a rebuilding team, since it will likely take him a full season to recover from his Achilles tear.
- Lowe identifies the Lakers and Mavericks as two wild cards for Cousins. However, he notes that the Lakers could use their cap room to land other stars or roll it over to 2019. As for the Mavs, if they go hard after a restricted free agent like Julius Randle or Aaron Gordon, they probably wouldn’t be in the mix for Cousins.
- The Wizards, Trail Blazers, Clippers, Raptors, Bucks, and Heat are a few of the teams Lowe mentions as possible landing spots if the Pelicans want to sign-and-trade Cousins, but he acknowledges that none would be a perfect match — and some are extreme long shots.
- With a four- or five-year max offer for Cousins seemingly unlikely, Lowe speculates that a third year could be the “inflection point” in the bidding for the All-Star big man. If one team is willing to do a fully or partially guaranteed third year, while another club wants to do a deal more like Paul Millsap‘s with the Nuggets (where the third year is a team option), that could be the difference, Lowe writes.
Lakers power forward Julius Randle could wind up in his hometown of Dallas next season, Frank Urbina of Hoops Hype speculates. Randle would be a nice fit alongside guard Dennis Smith Jr. and the Mavericks have plenty of cap space to sign him. He played very well against them this season, averaging 21.8 PPG, 11.5 RPG and 5.6 APG on 66% shooting, Urbina notes. Randle would also slot in well with the Suns and Pacers, Urbina adds, though it’s more likely he winds up staying with the Lakers. Randle will be a restricted free agent if, as expected, the Lakers extend a $5.564MM qualifying offer by the June 29th deadline.