Optimism Discussion: The Laker's Sky Is Not Falling

What would be the luxury cap hit if we stretched Deng, and just kept Randle with PG and Labron?

It was my understanding that because Randle is a restricted free agent, his cap hold would hurt, but we don’t have to sign him until after we get PG and Labron and that saves us money

 

So the optimistic side of me is out in full force after all this excitement. The way I see it, we shouldn't have any problem shedding Deng and yes I am that confident right now. Send Deng to Chicago with whatever picks they need. I'm thinking 2018 CLE 1st, 2018 LA 2nd, 2019 LA 2nd, and 2020 LA 1st should be more than enough. I know losing all those picks hurts, but it's necessary. That's step one.

Step two is signing LeBron James and Paul George to 4-year max deals.
Step three is signing a veteran back-up PG. I'm looking at Tony Parker, Jarrett Jack, or maybe Patrick Beverley.
Step four is signing Brook Lopez to the Room Exception.
Step five is re-signing Julius for 4/60 million which should be above market value (assuming Dallas goes after DeAndre Jordan).
Step six is re-signing Brewer/filling in with veterans

Lonzo/Parker/Caruso
George/Hart
Ingram/Brewer
LeBron/Kuzma
Lopez/Randle/Zubac/Bryant

Lord that team is impressive. Kuzma/Randle off the bench would just be phenomenal and I keep it this way because Lopez retains that rim protection and (admittedly shaky) floor spacing, but better than any other market big men.

You murder teams though when you got a Lonzo/George/Ingram/LeBron/Randle lineup. Shooting, defensive switch ability, athleticism, speed, strength. Oh my.

 

That's just insane. You could have the bench that beats some of the first teams out there easily.

 

No, only as brought up by Windhorst to a 1 year KCP deal if we strike out on George and LeBron, as a punt signing to help try and get us to the playoffs.

 

Yes and no. His cap hold is at 12.5 and that'll be true throughout the process. That means if we waive Deng, our cap situation is still:

Randle- 12.5
Ball- 7.5
Deng- 7.4
Ingram- 5.8
Kuzma- 1.7
Hart- 1.7
Zubac- 1.5
Bryant- 1.4
Other Cap Holds- 2.9
Total- 40.7

Available spending power: 60.3 million. In other words we're about 6 million short still of being able to keep Julius. The only way that works is if you send out Ingram or Ball for no salary returning.

Unfortunately if we want to keep Julius we MUST trade away Deng's contract. OR Julius has to give us a break financially by signing his QO or agreeing to an extension worth 6 million dollars or less per year.

Also keep in mind now our 25th pick is worth roughly 1.5 million dollars so that's another slight complication. The ideal situation is attaching that pick and a couple others to Deng.

 

Zubac and Bryant's contracts are not guaranteed until after the season. We can cut them and save an additional 2 million or so. And like you mentioned, the Cleveland pick will have a hold. It's why I think Deng will be gone before the draft if he is to be traded at all.

 

Yeah. If we are 6'6" - 6'8" - 6'9" - 6'8" at all the other positions, we will be able to get away with starting Randle at the 5.

 

I don't understand why honestly. Lopez is fine.

But even so, there's no better options for what you're asking for. The only other unrestricted free agent Centers of note: Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, and Greg Monroe. None of them provide the combination of rim protection and shooting that Lopez does.

Besides, Randle would be getting way more minutes. Lopez is just in there to get us to a steady start. He's also got a history of being reliable in the post if/when we need that. It's versatility that you simply will not find elsewhere. If he's open to it, he should be welcomed to stay.

 

I agree completely on moving Deng. I could absolutely see Sacramento or Chicago taking a package of Deng/Zubac/2018 1st/2020 1st for a 2nd rounder or something. Why the hell not? That's a TON of assets for them.

The only half-way disappointing part of that would be losing all that and potentially striking out in FA a month later. Two firsts and a Zubac to dump Deng?... Ouch. It would be worth it if we got the max deals though.

 

Yeah, but we’d be able to keep Randle most likely regardless of whether or not we struck out. And we could use that cap space to absorb some big one year deals similar to Lin or sign a large one year deal to someone like KCP. How many kids do we need anyway? I mean, we have Ball/Ingram/Kuzma/Hart/Randle/Bryant in that scenario. 6 dudes under 25 is enough youth.