Aloha,
If a team was every going to stretch a large contract it’s this one. If Russ gave up 5 mil in salary with the full MLE and Bi annual exception we could have up to 28 mil in spending power. Here are some names that I believe there salaries could fall to this year.
6 to 10 mil guys.
Malik tops my list because of all the 10 mil names he is the one guy I believe still has star potential. You could split the 10 mil between two decent guys but I would spend it on Malik. A few Other guys are.
Chris Boucher PF Raptors
Nurkic C Trailblazers
Dennis Schroeder PG
Bruce Brown G/F Nets
Kyle Anderson PF Griz
Tyrus Jones PG Griz
Then there are the high risk high reward guys due to injury history. All these guys will probably be had for the 6 mil mini MLE or less
TJ Warren SF Pacers
Oladipo PG/SG Heat
Thomas Bryant C Wizards
Gary Harris SG
Ricky Rubio PG (won’t be available until January at the earliest)
I probably wouldn’t sign more than one of these guys.
Other 6 mil and under guys
Otto Porter Jr Combo forward Warriors
Hartenstein C Clippers
Damien Jones C Kings
Bjelica C Warriors
Muscala C
That Young PF
Delon Wright PG Hawks
My favorite category is the next Malik. I think we should try and sign one guy to develop. These guys have all shown flashes but haven’t put it together yet.
Kevin Knox SF 23 was a young player on a Thibs team. Which means little opportunities. He had moments with the Hawks but his qualifying offer is 9mil and the Hawks won’t do that. He could possibly fall all the way to vet min range.
Jalen Smith PF 22 had his moments with the Suns and Pacer. Still he could actually be a bi annual candidate.
Mo Bomba C. The number 2 overall pick played a little better after the trade but he will not get his 10 mil qualifying offer for sure.
While Phil Handy has not been given an interview I would love to see him back to mentor these young guys.
There are a lot of names out there and there will be a few solid players taking the Vet min. I’m interested in some of the other names out there that you guys are interested in. Try and stay at 10 mil or less guys. No Andre Ayton suggestions. lol
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned about Monk is that he’s proven that he can thrive while playing with this version of Lebron. That’s not an easy feat and it’s partly what made losing Caruso so painful. You HAVE to have guys who know how to get in where they fit in and Monk was particularly adept at it. That fact alone makes him very valuable and less of a risk than bringing in a new guy who may or may not be able to adapt to Lebron. It ain’t for everyone… Perfect example were the dudes who surrounded Kobe on those back-to-back teams. Pau, LO, D-Fish, Metta/Ariza, Drew….they weren’t nearly the best players in the league but they knew what was needed to mesh with Kobe. That’s half the battle when playing with some of these transcendent mega-stars.
I agree. And Monk did it with little effort on a Franks part to utilize his skills and expand his role some. A smart coach will see a guy that can get you 18 to 20 a night. Not the greatest defender, but he try’s which is what you need to see.
Robert Covington just got 2/24. You can start saying your goodbye’s to Monk.
Aloha, Michael,
“If a team was every going to stretch a large contract it’s this one. If Russ gave up 5 mil in salary with the full MLE and Bi annual exception we could have up to 28 mil in spending power. Here are some names that I believe there salaries could fall to this year.”
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Wish that were true as that’s a pretty good list of free agents. Unfortunately, buying out Russ for $42M and then only taking a $14M hit to the salary cap does not open up $28M in money to spend. It just spreads the $42M over three years.
Waiving and stretching Russ is not going to create any cap space for free agents. We would still be over the cap even if we renounced Reaves, Johnson, and Gabriel. The only money we will have for free agents will be our $6.4M MLE. If we hardcap ourselves, we could then have the full $10M MLE and $4M BAE, which is 8M more than without hard cap.
I do agree with you that it makes sense to hard cap ourselves so we can get an additional $8M to spend on free agents. That could be a big difference maker for this roster. Hard cap is almost a necessity.
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Here’s a breakdown on what the Lakers would have available in the form of cap space were they to waive and stretch Russ.
Please let me know if I have any of the numbers incorrect. Easy to make mistakes with this salary cap stuff.
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Russ makes $47,063,478 if he declines his player option. Taking away $5,000,000 million for buyout would leave $42,063,478, which would then cost the Lakers $14,021,159.33 in dead money per year for three years.
Here’s our salary cap situation
Russell Westbrook: $14,021,159
1. LeBron James: $44,474,988
2. Anthony Davis: $37,980,720
3. Talen Horton-Tucker: $10,260,000
4. Kendrick Nunn: $5,250,000
Total Guaranteed: $111,986,867
5. Stanley Johnson: $2,351,521
6. Wenyen Gabriel: $1,878,720
7. Austin Reaves: $1,563,518
Total Not Guaranteed: $5,793,759
8. Rookie Minimum $1,004,159
9. Rookie Minimum $1,004,159
10. Rookie Minimum $1,004,159
11. Rookie Minimum $1,004,159
12. Rookie Minimum $1,004,159
Cap Holds to 12 Roster Spots: $5,020,795
Total Salaries: $122,801,421
Salary Cap: $122,000,000
Lakers will be over the salary cap by $2,801,421
They could save $2,781,282 by not guaranteeing Johnson, Gabriel, and Reaves, but that would still leave them $20,139 over the salary cap.
Which is why if Jeannie had any backbone, she would’ve insisted on not just a single amnesty clause, but as many as a team wants during cba negotiations. The fact that bad contracts have no viable remedy is a blight on the league.