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Brook Lopez

Three Trades To Transform Lakers Into Contender And Preserve Picks

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Like the NBA itself, the Los Angeles Lakers are in the midst of a major changing of the guard with JJ Redick taking over the head coaching duties and superstar LeBron James approaching what could be his final seasons.

For Los Angeles Lakers fans and followers, the franchise goal as usual is championship or bust, which is why they’ve been so disappointed with Pelinka’s overly patient excuses and artfully minimized expectations. The struggles the front office has encountered have essentially paralyzed the Lakers and made them the only franchise out of 30 NBA teams that has not added a single player since the start of the current free agency period.

With the re-signing of team co-captain LeBron James to a 2-year near-max contract for $101 million, the Lakers are now safely below the tough second luxury tax apron and are now able to proceed with upgrading their roster.
The Lakers need a point-of-attack perimeter defender, a bigger legitimate 3&D wing who can shoot the three and guard the West’s big high-scoring wings, and a rim protecting backup center for when AD is on the bench.

The challenge facing the Lakers right now is each of the trade options to specifically fill those three needs will cost one or more picks and aren’t guaranteed to raise the roster to legitimate championship contender status.
The Lakers are currently evaluating whether their best move at this point in time might be to run it back with the current roster and save their draft capital until a better opportunity arises rather than going all-in right now.

The Lakers need to start thinking outside-of-the-box to find a way to still compete to win a championship while LeBron James and Anthony Davis are still playing at a high level without giving up their valuable draft capital.
The solution is to take on Zach LaVine’s bad contract in return for the Bulls’ 2027 unprotected first round pick and then trade that pick to upgrade the Lakers’ starting lineup and rotation to legitimate championship contender.

While trading for LaVine is a calculated gamble because of his contract and injury history, it’s also an opportunity to find LeBron James’ replacement and go for a championship right now while saving our picks for the future.
Unlike most of the Lakers’ other potential trade options, the Lakers would still have the security of all of their current draft capital in case trading for LaVine and another starter with the Bulls’ first round pick did not work.

Slowly but surely, we’re starting to hear rumors that the Lakers may be rethinking their options and a trade with the Bulls for Zach LaVine and a first round pick is starting to appear as a smart out-of-the-box option.
Frankly, when you consider how talented and impactful LaVine could be and whom the Lakers might also be able to get with that first round pick, a 3-team trade with the Bulls could end up being the Lakers’ best option.

With that in mind, here are three blockbuster trades that could not only transform the Los Angeles Lakers into legitimate championship contenders but also preserve their existing draft capital for better future opportunities.

1. Trade for Zach LaVine and Brook Lopez

PG: REAVES, Dinwiddie, James Jr.
SG: LAVINE, Christie, OPEN
SF: JAMES, Knecht, Lewis
PF: DAVIS, Wood, OPEN
CE: LOPEZ, Hayes, OPEN

The trade for Zach LaVine and a Bulls’ first round pick not only gives the Lakers a third superstar who can eventually replace LeBron James but also the draft pick they needed to trade for veteran stretch center Brook Lopez.

The net result is Los Angeles trades 6 Lakers for 1 Bull and 1 Buck, creating a dynamic starting lineup of Austin Reaves, Zach LaVine, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Brook Lopez and opening up 4 roster spots for other talent.
The beauty of trading with the Bulls is the Lakers do not have to give up either of their 2 tradable first round picks or 3 tradable first round pick swaps, allowing them to keep their draft capital to use in the future.

The pros of the LaVine/Lopez trade include getting a third star to replace LeBron, building a championship caliber starting lineup, and improving the Lakers overall size, rebounding, rim protection, and 3-point shooting.
With Brook Lopez starting at center, the Lakers will have the big body they need to deal with big low gravity centers like Jokic, Sabonis, and Embiid and Anthony Davis can move to his preferred power forward position.

The cons are LeBron James has to play and defend the three, the Lakers gave up 6 players, including two starters, so bench depth and diversity will be heavily dependent on inexperienced and minimum salary players.
Nevertheless, the Lakers should be able to use their TX MLE to re-sign Spencer Dinwiddie as backup point guard to pair with Max Christie as backup shooting guard and Dalton Knecht as the backup small forward.

Bottom line, trading for shooting guard Zach LaVine and center Brook Lopez offers the Lakers the most of the 3 proposed blockbuster Bulls trades and should be the top priority on their offseason trade big board.

2. Trade for Zach LaVine and Cameron Johnson

PG: REAVES, Dinwiddie, James Jr.
SG: LAVINE, Christie, OPEN
SF: JAMES, Knecht, Lewis
PF: JOHNSON, Wood, OPEN
CE: DAVIS, Hayes, OPEN

The trade for Zach LaVine and a Bulls’ first round pick gives the Lakers a third superstar who can replace LeBron James as well as a first round draft pick to use to trade for talented young 3&D wing Cameron Johnson.

The net result is Los Angeles trades 6 Lakers for 1 Bull and 1 Net, creating a dynamic starting lineup of Austin Reaves, Zach LaVine, Cam Johnson, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis and opening up 4 needed roster spots.
The beauty of trading with the Bulls is the Lakers do not have to give up either of their 2 tradable first round picks or 3 tradable first round pick swaps, allowing them to keep their draft capital to use in the future.

The pros of the LaVine/Johnson trade include getting a third star to replace LeBron, building a championship caliber starting lineup, and improving the Lakers overall size, rebounding, wing defense, and 3-point shooting.
With Johnson starting at small forward, the Lakers will have the bigger wing they need to defend the bigger high scoring wings in the West like Durant, Leonard, and DeRozan and James won’t have to play the three.

The cons are the Lakers gave up 6 players, including two starters, so bench depth and diversity will be heavily dependent on inexperienced and minimum salary players. Also, Anthony Davis will have to play the five.
Nevertheless, the Lakers should be able to use their TX MLE to re-sign Spencer Dinwiddie as backup point guard to pair with Max Christie as backup shooting guard and Dalton Knecht as the backup small forward.

Bottom line, trading for shooting guard Zach LaVine and forward Cam Johnson offers the Lakers a chance to find a superstar to replace LeBon, win another championship, and preserve draft capital for the future.

3. Trade for Zach LaVine and Kelly Olynyk

PG: REAVES, Dinwiddie, Vincent,
SG: LAVINE, Christie, James Jr
SF: JAMES, Knecht, Lewis
PF: DAVIS, Wood, OPEN
CE: OLYNYK, Hayes, OPEN

The trade for Zach LaVine and a Bulls’ first round pick not only gives the Lakers a third superstar who can eventually replace LeBron James but also the draft pick they needed to trade for dynamic stretch center Kelly Olynyk.

The net result is Los Angeles trades 5 Lakers for 1 Bull and 1 Raptor, creating a dynamic starting lineup of Austin Reaves, Zach LaVine, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Kelly Olynyk, and opening up 3 roster spots.
The beauty of trading with the Bulls is the Lakers do not have to give up either of their 2 tradable first round picks or 3 tradable first round pick swaps, allowing them to keep their draft capital to use in the future.

The pros of the LaVine/Olynyk trade include getting a third star to replace LeBron, building a championship caliber starting lineup, and improving the Lakers overall size, rebounding, playmaking, and 3-point shooting.
With Kelly Olynyk starting at center, Anthony Davis will be free to be the team’s hub on offense and free safety roamer on defense. Olynyk is both a great 3-point shooter as well as elite playmaker who will be a great fit.

The cons are LeBron James has to play and defend the three, the Lakers gave up 5 players, including 2 starters, so bench depth and diversity will be heavily dependent on inexperienced and minimum salary players.
Nevertheless, the Lakers should be able to use their TX MLE to re-sign Spencer Dinwiddie as backup point guard to pair with Max Christie as backup shooting guard and Dalton Knecht as the backup small forward.

Bottom line, trading for shooting guard Zach LaVine and center Kelly Olynyk could transform the Lakers’ offense into a virtual juggernaut that plays fast, dominates the paint and free throw line while raining threes.

Lakers To Use $12.4 Million MLE To Pursue Brook Lopez and Bruce Brown

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The first domino in the Los Angeles Lakers’ offseason strategy has just fallen as they’ve declined their $16.5 million team option for Malik Beasley and waived Mo Bamba and his $11.3 million non-guaranteed contract.

Giving up $27.8 million in player contracts without getting anything in return would normally be malpractice but in this case it’s a calculated move to open up $16.9 million in cap exceptions to sign free agents we could not access.
While using the exceptions will hard cap Lakers at $172.3 million, it also allows them to use the $12.4 million NT MLE (non-taxpayer MLE) and the $4.5 million BAE (Bi-Annual Exception) to sign two or more free agents.

Those two exceptions gives the Lakers access to free agents over-the-cap teams like them never get. In this case, the Lakers goal is to use their $12.4 million NT MLE to sign coveted free agent Brook Lopez or Bruce Brown.
In a perfect world, the Los Angeles Lakers could end up signing Bruce Brown to be their starting small forward with the $12.4 million NT MLE and Mason Plumlee to be their backup center with the $4.5 million BAE.

It does not look good for the Milwaukee Bucks or Denver Nuggets to re-sign Brook Lopez or Bruce Brown. The Bucks will likely prioritize re-signing Middleton and won’t be able to match $20 million per year offer for Lopez. The Nuggets are in worse shape as they only have non-Bird rights so the best they can offer Bruce Brown is 20% raise in the form of $7.8 million per year contract, almost $5 million per year less than what Lakers can offer.

While it’s possible Brook Lopez and Bruce Brown will get offers greater than the $12.4 million NT MLE the Lakers can offer, it’s also possible they won’t and Los Angeles will be able to sign one of them with their NT MLE. Most pundits think Lopez is more likely than Brown to get offers greater than $12.4 million. The Rockets are rumored to be willing to offer the 35-year old Brook Lopez a multi-year contract starting at $20 million per year.

The other thing to consider is both Brook Lopez and Bruce Brown have recently won NBA championships and may not be satisfied to take more money from a team that doesn’t have a chance to be a legitimate contender. With Brown, there’s also the carrot of a starting job to offer. While Bruce is only 6′ 4″, he has a 6′ 9″ wingspan and has spent most of this time playing small forward and not shooting guard. He could start at the two or three.

Reports say the Lakers are “increasingly confident” they can sign Bruce Brown with their $12.4 million NT MLE although it’s been reported that Brown will meet with the Nuggets front office at the start of free agency. Who knows whether that means Brown is still considering taking $7.8 million per year to return to Denver or he’s just giving proper respect to the front office and team that gave him the opportunity to win a gold ring.

At any rate, the Los Angeles Lakers are doing exactly what they told you they were going to do. They’re bringing back their conference finals team and looking to upgrade with a free agent like Brook Lopez or Bruce Brown.

Here’s a breakdown of projected salaries for hard capped Lakers

Could Stealing Brook Lopez From Bucks Save Lakers Plans To Go Big?

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As their strategy to go big and pursue a modern starting center like Myles Turner, Kristaps Porzingis, or Naz Reid slowly implodes, the Lakers would be smart to try to steal center Brook Lopez from the Milwaukee Bucks.

Realistically, Brook Lopez may be the Lakers’ last chance to acquire a modern starting center this summer. The Pacers may be unwilling to trade Turner and Porzingis and Reid have already been traded to competitors. The Lakers believe their conference finals run ended partly due to their lack of positional size advantage against the Nuggets. Starting Lopez at center and moving James and Davis down a position would solve that.

While Lopez is 35 and injury prone, he’s also coming off what could be his career best season, shooting 37.4% from deep, blocking the 3rd most shots in the league, and finishing a close second to Jaren Jackson, Jr. for DPOY. Frankly, Brook is not only a perfect a fit for what L.A. needs at center as he can stretch the floor and protect the rim but now he may also now be the last available, affordable modern starting center left this summer.

Let’s look at what Brook Lopez’ is worth today as a free agent, whom the Lakers will be competing with to acquire him, and what the Lakers sign-and-trade deal, depth chart, and salary cap will look like post-trade.

What Is 35-Year Old Brook Lopez’ Market Value?

Lopez just finished a 4-year $52 million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, who are at a franchise crossroads with Mike Budenholzer being fired and both Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton hitting unrestricted free agency.

Brook averaged 15.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 2.5 blocks, 0.5 steals in 30.4 minutes per game while shooting 53.1% from the field, 37.4% from deep, and 78.4% from the line on 11.5 shots, 4.7 threes, and 2.4 free throws. Were he 25-years old rather than 35-years old, Lopez would be worth a max salary. Regardless of age, Brook had a year for which he deserves a raise from the $13 million per year he earned in his last contract with the Bucks.

The maximum deal Brook can sign with the Bucks is $54 million over three years due to the “over-38-rule,” which prevents him from signing a deal for four years or longer since he would turn 38-years old during that contract. Right now, it’s unknown whether the Bucks are going to bring back Lopez and/or Middleton. Milwaukee knows their core is getting older and the first round exit in the playoffs could motivate the front office to get younger.

Most NBA prognosticators project 35-year old Brook Lopez’ contract value as between $40 to $60 million over three years but the Milwaukee Bucks are rumored to want to sign him to a 2-year deal for between $30 to $35 million. The Athletic’s John Hollinger’s BORD$ value for Lopez is $16,241,034 though he says: “I don’t think the money gets quite as low as this, but maybe something in the range of $55 million to $60 million over three years?”

The Los Angeles Lakers have a unique opportunity to steal Brook Lopez from the Milwaukee Bucks and other NBA teams. Brook Lopez is likely going to command a fully guaranteed 3-year contract for $50-60 million.

Who Are Lakers’ Competition For Brook Lopez?

The NBA teams listed as free agent destinations for Brook Lopez include the Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Clippers, and Los Angeles Lakers.

The Bucks have to be considered to be the favorites to re-sign Brook Lopez and it would not be a complete surprise if they made a move before free agency to lock him up similar to what the Timberwolves did with Naz Reid. Of the other teams interested in signing Lopez in free agency, the Rockets, Spurs, Thunder, Hawks, and Kings can all create enough cap space to sign Brook Lopez in free agency this summer for 3-years and up to $60 million.

While the Lakers could make moves to pursue Lopez in free agency, it makes more sense for them to pursue a sign-and-trade for him even though that would hardcap them at $172.7 million total payroll for next season. The difference is the Lakers would have to renounce D’Angelo Russell to create the cap space to sign Brook Lopez as free agent, which would then limit the Lakers to only being able to offer Russell the $12.4 million MLE.

Bottom line, there’s going to be no shortage of NBA teams interested in signing Brook Lopez in free agency next week but the big question is how many will be willing to give 35-year old center a guaranteed 3-year deal? The fact that Brook Lopez played for and has great respect for Lakers’ head coach Darvin Ham during his years as an assistant for Mike Budenholzer on the Milwaukee Bucks could give the Lakers an edge over other teams.

Brook Lopez is likely looking at the last contract of his career so there’s always the chance he will chase the most money. In any event, the Lakers need to offer him three years and $60 million guaranteed to sign him.

How Do Lakers Look After Brook Lopez Trade?

While the Lakers could renounce players they do not plan to keep to create cap space to sign Brook Lopez to a guaranteed 3-year $60 million free agent contract, the cleaner and smarter route would be to sign-and-trade for him.

While signing-and-trading for Lopez would hard cap the Lakers’ total team salaries at $172.3 million for next season, they would still be able to bring back the core of the roster that made it to the Western Conference Finals. James, Davis, Vanderbilt, and Christie were under contract. Lakers used Bird rights to re-sign Russell, Reaves, and Hachimura and the BAE to bring back Lonnie Walker IV. Along with Lopez, that’s a solid 9-man rotation.

Note this scenario assumes the Lakers plan to rely on the acumen of their scouting staff to fill out the roster with more less-expensive two-way and undrafted players and fewer more-expensive minimum-salary veterans. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the salary cap that shows the salary for each player next season and the total team payroll and then compares that total to the two luxury tax aprons and calculates how much the team is under.

The Lakers have a unique opportunity to approach Brook Lopez with a proposed 3-year $60 million sign-and-trade to return to Los Angeles as the team’s starting center with a special lifetime Gold Pass to Disneyland.

With the Nuggets officially crowned and the Warriors and Suns building superteams, the Lakers’ path to this season’s NBA championship is likely to be tougher and more difficult and challenging than faced last season. While the Lakers plan to bring back most of the core from their conference finals team and have pledged to upgrade the team to championship caliber. The surest and easiest way to do that is to sign-and-trade for Brook Lopez.

Signing-and-trading for Brook Lopez and adding him to the core of their conference finals team is the kind of move that should transform the Los Angeles Lakers into the favorite to win the 2023-24 NBA Championship.

Four Reasons Lakers Would Be Smart To Hard Cap Themselves Next Season

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If you see Jeanie Buss wildly dancing and dropping dollars on TicToc like Ja Morant at Shotgun Willie’s, it’s because her L.A. Lakers have finally figured out how to compete for championships without having to pay luxury taxes.

If the Lakers are committed to bringing back and upgrading the core of last season’s conference finals team, the best roster building strategy to elevate the team to championship level could ironically be to hard cap themselves. Being hard capped at $169 million brings a set of advantages beyond paying zero luxury taxes. Hard capped teams can receive sign-and-trade players and have $16.6 million in exceptions to sign free agents under hard cap.

The Lakers’ ownership, front office, and coaching staffs should be proud of the team’s great finish last season and looking forward to even more this season. The Lakers still need a few roster tweaks to reach full potential.
They need to figure out what to do with D’Angelo Russell. Per Jovan Buha, the Lakers prefer to sign-and-trade him, wasive him, or re-sign him in that order. Fortunately, Pelinka did a great job giving the Lakers great options.

The Lakers also need to decide who will be the fifth starter to replace Vanderbilt. Will it be Hachimura? Or do the Lakers trade for a starting center like Turner? Both of those solutions leave LeBron defending the 3. Ideally, the best solution might be to find a legitimate 3&D small forward so James can play power forward. The only problem is every team in the league is looking for that same exact player, an O.G. Annuby clone.

Besides avoiding luxury taxes, here are four reasons why the Lakers hard capping themselves offers the most flexibility and would be the best roster building strategy to upgrade the team to championship level this summer.

1. New CBA Favors Teams That Hard Cap

The NBA’s new CBA includes major changes designed to prevent teams like the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers from willingly paying whatever crazy and exorbitant luxury taxes it takes to win a championship.

At the heart of the change is a second luxury tax threshold set at $17.5 million above the $162 million tax line or $179.5 million. Exceed that tax threshold and a team loses its MLE and has other severe limitations. Overall, the penalties are so draconian that $179.5 million will likely become the ‘de facto’ hard cap going forward. The effect will be to even the total salaries a team can pay and further even the competitive landscape.

NBA teams who exceed a second $179 million luxury tax threshold will incur harsh competitive penalties like not being able to use their MLE, take back more salary in a trades, or sign candidates from the buyout market. The league also reduced the Taxpayer MLE to $5 million, meaning a team with salaries over the luxury tax apron will only have $5 million available to sign free agents for whom they do not have either Bird or Early Bird rights.

Overall, the new CBA was targeted directly at the rich owners of the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, and Brooklyn Nets who treated luxury tax penalties as just another necessary cost to win an NBA championship. Look for those teams to lose free agents and trade players under contract to make sure they get under the $179.5 million second tax threshold. Expect the Lakers to be closely looking at those teams’ free agents and rosters.

By opting to hard cap themselves, the Lakers will be able to spend a total of $16.6 million via MLE and BAE instead of just $5 million to sign their own free agents without Bird or Early Bird rights or other team’s free agents.

2. Hard Cap Lets Lakers Bring Back Core

Despite being hard capped, the Lakers could still bring back their 9 best players from last season’s conference finals team, including James, Davis, Christie, Vanderbilt, Russell, Reaves, Hachimura, Schroder, and Walker IV.

James, Davi, Vanderbilt, and Christie had contracts while Russell, Reaves, and Hachimura were re-signed using Bird rights. Schroder was signed with MLE and Walker with BAE. Lively and Livingston were 2023 draft picks. Three open roster spots for minimum salary players brings the Lakers’ active roster to 14-players, 9 of whom were part of the team that made the conference finals and finished as one of the best 4 teams in the league.

What we’re seeing is the Lakers can build a championship contending team while being hard capped provided they pursue a two-superstar and deep roster model rather than the three-superstars model had with Westbrook. The Lakers don’t need to pay luxury taxes to bring back the core of their conference finals team. They can still bring back the 9 best players from that roster while still remaining below the $169 million NBA hard cap.

Rob Pelinka deserves kudos for the job he did in making over this roster. Not only are they near championship caliber, They’re young with real upside and they can bring most of them back despite being hard capped.

3. Hard Cap Gives Lakers $12.2 Million MLE

But the Lakers may not want to spend their $12.2 million MLE or their $4.4 million BAE on Dennis Schroder and Lonnie Walker IV. They could waive them both and instead use the exceptions to sign other team’s free agents.

We know the Bucks may have to dramatically reduce payroll due to the new CBA, which means that the Lakers might be able to convince free agent center Brook Lopez to accept the $12.2 million NT Mid Level Exception. Lopez might love the opportunity to play again for Ham rather than a new coach in Milwaukee and reuniting in Los Angeles with the Lakers where Disneyland is just a short drive away could be a very feasible move.

Top free agents whom the Lakers might pursue with their $12.2 million non-taxpayer MLE could include Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis, Bruce Brown, Naz Reid, Kyle Kuzma, Kelly Oubre, Dillon Brooks, and Alec Burks. Alternatively, the Lakers can split the $12.2 million MLE between two players and the $4.4 million BAE between two players to upgrade the roster so that the backups for each position were not minimum salary players.

Having $16.6 million rather than $5 million in exceptions to sign their own or other teams’ free agents is a huge advantage for a team like the Lakers who usually operate over the cap and just need one or two more players. Being able to offer an unrestricted free agent from your team or another team the $12.2 million non-taxpayer MLE versus the $5.0 million taxpayer MLE is one of the major advantages of a team hard capping themselves.

The Lakers should seriously consider offering their $12.2 million non-taxpayer MLE to an impact two-way player like Brook Lopez who’s exactly what they need since the path to the championship goes through Jokic.

4. Hard Cap Lets Lakers S&T for 3rd Star

While being hard capped would limit the Lakers to a total payroll of $169 million, it would also give them the ability to pull off a sign-and-trade for Kyrie Irving to join superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis in L.A.

LeBron James and the Lakers’ have long coveted superstar Kyrie Irving, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, although there were rumors that he already has a ‘handshake’ deal to re-sign with the Mavs.
But there is a scenario where Kyrie Irving decides he has a better chance of winning an NBA championship with LeBron James in LA than with Luka Doncic in Dallas and the two teams pull off a mega double sign-and-trade.

While unlikely, here’s how it could happen. The Lakers sign Russell to a 3-year $60 million deal, exercise Beasley’s team option, and trade the two to the Mavs for Kyrie Irving, who would sign a 3-year $112.5 million contract. Kyrie gets 3 years at $37.5 million to play with LeBron. The Lakers lose Russell and Beasley in trade and waive Bamba. They also no longer have space under hard cap to use MLE and BAE to re-sign Schroder and Walker.

Despite being hard capped, the Lakers could still sign-and-trade for Irving, assuming he would accept $35 million per year, and still be able to bring back James, Davis, Reaves, Hachimura, Christie, and their two draft picks.

Major changes in the CBA, ability to bring back their core, opportunity to offer free agents the $12 million NT MLE, and ability to sign-and-trade for a superstar are the four reasons why the Lakers should hard cap themselves.

Hard capping not only would eliminate any luxury tax for this season but also start the process of reversing their current status as a repeat offender, which has suddenly become much more urgent with the tougher new CBA. There’s no question Jeanie Buss and the Lakers were one of the teams in favor of the harsh new second luxury tax threshold. It should bring back sanity to team building that was undone by the Warriors and Clippers.

One of the most impressive parts of the masterful job Rob did setting the stage for the Lakers to take the next step in building a championship roster was the flexibility that the collection of players he signed gives the team. Rob has all his ducks in a row. Reaves and Hachimura are restricted free agents. Beasley, Bamba, and Vanderbilt have team options on non-guaranteed contracts. The team also has two tradable first round picks.

By hard capping, Rob has three exciting options available to him. He can bring back everybody from last year’s team including Dennis Schroder and Lonnie Walker by using the $12.2 million MLE and the $4.4 million BAE.
Or Rob can use those exceptions for other team’s free agents. The MLE might be enough to sign free agent center Brook Lopez. Or the Lakers can go all-in and try to pull off a mega double sign-and-trade for Kyrie Irving.

Bottom line, the Lakers would be smart to hard cap themselves this season so they can take advantage of the new CBA rules and either bring back last season’ team, upgrade it with a star player, or trade for a third superstar.