Multiple NBA cognoscenti have confirmed centers Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell have been put on the trading block, which means Andre Drummond has agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers once his Cavs’ buyout is complete.
While the timing could still be tricky, there’s no way the Lakers would be shopping the only two centers on their roster unless they were completely confident Andre Drummond was going to be available and sign with them. While nothing is certain until all the contracts are signed, it appears the Lakers are looking to go all-in on revamping their roster in the wake of the recent ankle injury that’s likely going to keep LeBron James our for weeks.
In addition to Gasol and Harrell, reports confirm the Lakers have also been shopping starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who signed a 3-year extension this offseason but has been mired in a horrendous slump. While Gasol’s and KCP’s trade values have plummeted, Montrezl Harrell’s value as a trading chip has never been higher as he’s expanded his game at both ends of the court and will be in line for a major raise in free agency.
The big question now is what will Rob Pelinka to be able to acquire in trade for Montrezl Harrell, Marc Gasol, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to help the Lakers both until LeBron and AD return and to repeat as NBA champions? Assuming Drummond solves the starting center rim protection issues, the Lakers’ top priority short term has to be a true lead or point guard to run the offense and make plays for teammates until LeBron James returns.
Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Marc Gasol represent $23.8 million in potential outgoing salary. Since the Lakers are only $2 million below the hard cap, they can bring back $25.8 million in salary. With the Lakers looking for a true point guard and extension talks with Schroder possibly stalled, it’s not impossible the Lakers might be willing to include Dennis’ $15.5 million salary to pursue a player like Kyle Lowry.
Dennis Schroder, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Marc Gasol to the Raptors for Kyle Lowry might be a real possibility. Lowry and Drummond could keep the Lakers winning in the short term until LeBron and AD can come back. The Lakers could then trade Harrell, Matthews, McKinnie, and Dudley to the Hornets for Terry Rozier. Lowry and Rozier would be give the Lakers a dramatically upgraded backcourt with two volume 3-point shooters.
The Lakers would not only be able to thrive in the short term but would be better positioned to repeat as NBA champions with a starting lineup of Kyle Lowry, Terry Rozier, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Andre Drummond. They’d also have a strong bench and deep roster by keeping Talen Horton-Tucker, Alex Caruso, Kyle Kuzma, and Markieff Morris to back up the guard and forward positions and re-signing Damian Jones to backup center.
These are, of course, just two of the options Rob Pelinka and the Lakers might be considering. They would be smart to be looking at Lonzo Ball at point guard and Bogdan Bogdanovic and Victor Oladipo at shooting guard. The one thing that seems certain is the Lakers appear to have reached an agreement in principle with Andre Drummond and have now put Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Marc Gasol on the trading block.
And that is great news for Lakers fans as it show that Rob Pelinka realizes they simply cannot stand pat in the wake of LeBron’s injury. Instead, they must embrace this as a chance to rebuild the roster short and long term. While you never want to see a superstar player suffer an injury, this could turn out to be a blessing for the Lakers. The silver lining could be LeBron getting needed time off and the Lakers getting a roster building mulligan.
There’s nothing more exciting than NBA free agency and the trade deadline. Rob Pelinka has an opportunity to turn what appeared to be disaster that threatened the Lakers championship hopes into a brilliant transformation.
I have to say I’m impressed with the logic and process behind the moves being attributed to the Lakers. We would not be shopping Trezz and Marc unless we had Andre in the bag.
Like that Klutch relationship is not stopping KCP from being shopped. Most importantly, nobody but LBJ and AD are untouchable. If we need to move THT or Caruso, so be it. This is about not wasting a championship opportunity.
I think we have some great opportunities to get a guard to help carry the load until LeBron and AD return. Would love to see both guard spots upgraded with volume 3-point shooters. Two guys who shoot the three, defend well, and are playmakers would transform this team. Along with Drummond.
I’m excited about the possibilities. Next two days going to very exciting. Hopefully, even better than the offseason. We’re lucky Bron got injured before the deadline. This is going to end up helping the team repeat rather than hurting us. BB gods on Lakers side last season and in the end this season.
Not trying to ruin the party or dim your vibe but the Lowry trade will not work per NBA roster rules. Once we ship out 3, or 4, players we are well below the league roster minimum…which we are already at: 14. We have 14 players on the roster which is the lowest we can carry (there is a 2 week grace period once you drop below 14). We can’t add any salary of any kind once we hit the hard cap so the Lowry trade wouldn’t even allow us to sign Drummond. You seem to gloss over this and throw out these home run trades that won’t make it to the warning track my man.
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per Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ:
79. What roster size limits exist? What is the Inactive List? What is Injured Reserve? Do any other such lists exist?
Normally an NBA team can have a maximum of 15 players on its roster during a season (and up to 201 during the offseason, starting on the day after the team’s season ends). A team normally has 12 or 13 players on its Active List, who are eligible to play in games, and can have as few as 11 for up to two weeks at a time. Any remaining players must be on the team’s Inactive List, and are ineligible to play in games. Teams temporarily can have four players on their Inactive List (bringing their roster size to 16) with league approval in the event of a hardship2.
Teams must suit-up at least eight players and have two players on its Inactive List for every game. The following table summarizes the allowable compositions of team Active and Inactive Lists:
Inactive
Active With 0 Two-Way With 1 Two-Way With 2 Two-Ways Notes
13 2 3 4
13 1 2 3
13 0 1 2 Two week limit
12 3 4 5
12 2 3 4
12 1 2 3 Two week limit
11 2 3 4 Two week limit
11 1 2 3 Two week limit
A team gets two roster spots exclusively for Two-Way players (see question number 82). A Two-Way player must be on his team’s Active List or Inactive List while playing in the NBA. For each Two-Way player on the team’s Active List or Inactive List, the number of players required to be on the team’s Inactive List increases by one, as indicated in the above chart. For example, if a team can have 13 active and two inactive players if it does not have any Two-Way players; 13 and three if it has one Two-Way player; or 13 and four if it has two Two-Way players.
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The vet min Drummond can sign for is $2,564,753 due to his NBA service time (10 years unless they don’t count the current season, not sure on that one…) but let’s say it doesn’t count. Still it’s $2,331,593, not a big difference. Kyle Lowry makes $30 million (plus a $500,000 incentive bonus which I believe must be accounted for in regards to the hard cap). With 2 million dollars in wiggle as currently stands the Lakers would need to send out more salary than they take back to even have a shot at signing a Drummond or IT. So in regards to your trade:
Gasol: $2,564,753
KCP: $12,073,020
Schroder: $15,500,000
Total: $30, 137, 773
That doesn’t even cover Lowry’s incentive of 500K, nor is it enough after the fact to sign a 9 or 10 year service NBA player. That’s Isaiah Thomas, too, btw. All of that and you’re below the roster size limit by 2 players. The Lowry trade will be vetoed in every scenario one can conjure. Any trade that sends out more players than it brings back and doesn’t include the cap space for X number of vet minimum contracts will get vetoed. If you don’t account for the roster size rules a lot of these trades w/multiple players going out are just pipe dreams.
LMAO. You always want to rain on any parade. There are always solutions. As I said above, these were just examples of the kinds of trade the Lakers might make. I wasn’t trying to get into a detailed salary cap rules discussion. However…if you insist, consider the following:
First, all the Lakers have to do is adjust the trade to include another player. So let’s say it’s KCP, Schroder, Gasol, and Matthews. That’s $33.7M out and 30.0M in. Creates another $3.7M below the hard cap. Or $3.2M if Lowry has a 500K incentive.
Second, “a team subject to the hard cap can also sign players to Rest-of-Season contracts during the season, as long as the salary pro-ration keeps the team below the Apron.” So Drummond, Thomas, and Cousins or guys the Lakers sign to replace open roster spots will only count for percentage of games remaining.
Third, “for players who have been in the NBA for three or more seasons and are playing under a one-year, 10-day or Rest-of-Season contract at the minimum salary, the minimum salary for a two-year veteran is used in place of the player’s actual salary (see question number 22).” FYI, that amount is $1,517,981. So all Drummond, Thomas, Cousins, or any vet the Lakers sign to fill out their roster will only cost $1,517,981 each. The NBA pays the rest of their salaries.
My point, as I said in the article, is “These are, of course, just two of the options Rob Pelinka and the Lakers might be considering.”
Not always. Just when you make propositions and hypothesis sound like final products. I just want to make sure we all stay grounded in reality. I think we all agree SOME kind of move has to be made. I’m sure the Lakers have some lines in the water, now to see who bites on which one.
Also all of the above is exactly why I don’t really dabble in trades. It gets complex and burdensome. I’ll change the rain to a light drizzle 😉
Always funny to see (and hear if you listen to our show) LakerTom swing one way or another depending on which way the trade (or buyout) winds go. One week he doesn’t want Andre Drummond on the team, the next week he does. Now mind you as fans, we all do a flip-flop at some time (Heck even I did on Rondo at the VERY end). If Drummond does come it’s an upgrade from what we have now, so if it does happen it will be welcomed.
LOL. The difference, as you obviously know, Gerald, is what’s potentially available at each point in time and the ‘inside’ information to which we have access. Is Andre Drummond a viable or available long term fit for the Lakers as a center? Definitely not on both counts, which is why my focus long term has always been on Myles Turner or Nerlens Noels, two modern centers each of whom is a significantly better fit as a rim protector than Andre. Myles has the offensive advantage of being a stretch 5 while Nerlens’ switch-ability keeps him from being played off the floor.
Right now, however, we’re leaking points in the paint badly because we have no size and don’t want to commit to Damian Jones for the rest of the year. Drummond can help fix that problem on both ends. He has the size to limit opponent points in the paint and the score a lot of points on the other hand. Plus he can swing the rebounds back into our favor.
While he can’t defend on the perimeter, he can at least match points in the paint at the other end, something neither McGee or Howard could do, which helps keep him from being able to be played off the floor. Will he get as many minutes in the playoffs? Probably not but I still think he will help and, bottom line, he’s the best option we have at this point.
There’s literally nothing this team can do to increase its odds of winning even a single game until at least one of its superstars comes back. Gutting what little nba-caliber players the have to get a capable starter back in the short term changes nothing.
I disagree, Stan. First, the absence of LeBron and AD have exposed both short term needs until they return, which could be another 4 weeks, and long term needs that could derail us in the playoffs.
We need a playmaker who can run the offense right now. That’s not Dennis, Caruso, or THT. And we will need that in the playoffs unless you’ve forgotten about the impact of Playoff Rondo. So trading for a player like that is in my mind our number one priority.
Second, we need volume 3-point shooting. Last year, we shot 30 threes per game during the regular season but jumped that to 34 per game in the playoffs. This year, we’re shooting less than 30 per game and making fewer of them. Meanwhile, the teams we’re going to have to go through this year – Clippers, Jazz, and Nets – shoot 40 threes per game. Other than the Rockets last year, our competition was only averaging 35 threes per game. This year’s playoffs won’t be as easy as last year.
Third, we’re getting killed by opponent points in the paint this year because Gasol and Harrell can’t protect the rim as well as McGee and Howard did. In the short term, we need Drummond to solve that. In the long term, AD will have to carry the load but he’s going to need more help as we know he can’t and won’t play center all the time. So we need Drummond badly both short and long term.
Bottom line, there’s a lot we not only need to do to help in the short term but that will be absolutely necessary if we want to win in the playoffs and repeat as champs.