5 Moves to Salvage LA Lakers’ Offseason

Latest @BleacherReport 5 Moves to Salvage LA Lakers' Offseason After Agreeing to Re-sign LeBron James -> Some of the potential moves become more difficult, now that he's likely signing for the max on July 6https://t.co/Jxef3gMSwV

— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) July 4, 2024

1. The Blazers’ Contracts

A combination of D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino and Christian Wood would be enough salary to bring back Grant and Williams without trigging a first-apron hard cap, though the Lakers would be hard-capped. That could require James to take about $4-17 million below the max, though.

2. Get D

eBest Player Available

Perhaps the Bulls would expand a trade to include center Nikola Vučević, with the Lakers sending Russell, Hachimura, Hood-Schifino and Wood to Chicago. The Bulls would likely want additional compensation, such as a first-round pick, which may cause the Lakers to hesitate.

3. Lakers Aim for the Mark-kanen

Markkanen’s contract ($18.0 million) should make a deal even more appealing. Since the Jazz are under the cap, they could help the Lakers offload contracts en masse. How about Russell, Hachimura, Lewis, Hood-Schifino, Wood and Reddish into Utah’s cap room, plus the picks?

4. Pay to Dump Players

Instead of focusing on the return, the Lakers’ best move may be to give up cash and/or second-round picks to offload as many unneeded players as possible.

The Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons or Jazz could absorb those players into their cap space. Any team—even those without cap room—can take on minimum contracts like Wood or Reddish without having to match salaries. The Brooklyn Nets are one of many teams with prominent enough trade exceptions to give the Lakers necessary relief.

5. Ride it out

The Lakers could look to improve ahead of the February trade deadline, but only in deals that reduce salary. Given their current lack of leverage, perhaps none of the deals that we proposed here are available. Waiting for a better opportunity may be the best path forward.