A Blueprint for the Lakers' Future
I believe that the Lakers are headed towards a bright future as does just about everyone in the city of Los Angeles now that the King is in town. The future seems ripe for contention but the path has not been paved. With so many prospective routes for the future, here's my blueprint.
Step 1: Play Out the Season with Minimal Roster Changes
Despite the potential levels of ineptitude that this meme team can reach, the Lakers should play out the season without a major trade acquisition. The Luol Deng contract will become an expiring deal next offseason. In addition, keeping the roster in place during the season will signal to future free agents that the Lakers are open to holding their end of contracts with Magic & Rob Pelinka in the front office.
Step 2: Have Jimmy Butler Opt-In to his Contract and Deal for him
With so much money coming off the books in 2019, I believe that the Lakers should reach for two star players. It might seem like a luxury, but it may be the only way to build a dynasty in the Western Conference with an aging playmaker in LeBron James.
Jimmy Butler should be one of the stars in LA. He's been on the record many times about his desire to win, his defense would be a perfect complement to the Lakers, coming to a big market like LA would allow him to grab the endorsements that he has lost in Minnesota, and it would be the perfect opportunity to unload Luol Deng's contract.
Butler can opt into a deal structured like this before the draft:
Lakers Receive: Jimmy Butler, 2019 2nd Round Pick
Timberwolves Receive: Luol Deng, Moritz Wagner, Sviatoslav Mykhailuk, Isaac Bonga, 2019 1st Round Pick, 2021 1st Round Pick, 2023 1st Round Pick Top 5 Protected, 2020 2nd Round Pick, 2022 2nd Round Pick
Trade Machine Link: http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=y72faznx
I strongly believe that a deal can be done as long as the Lakers promise Butler that they will resign him soon to a max contract for 5 years now that they have his Bird rights.
Step 3: Sign Kawhi Leonard to a 1+1 Deal Worth $55.001 M
We all know that Kawhi Leonard wants to play in Los Angeles. I hope that he would want to sign for a near max deal at $26.444 M instead of the max at $32.7 M. Such a contract would allow him to receive max dollars in the near future and take over the helm of the team with Butler in a year or two along with the growing young core as LeBron ages.
With that being said, I think this negotiation is possible as every star would be taking sacrifices in this blueprint. James came a year early to develop the core, Butler would opt-in to a contract that heavily underpays him, and Leonard would take a haircut to fit underneath the salary cap.
|
2019-20 Lakers Salary Table (Under the Estimated Cap of $109M) |
|
|
Player |
Salary in $ Millions |
|
LeBron James |
37.437 |
|
Kawhi Leonard |
26.444 |
|
Jimmy Butler |
19.842 |
|
Lonzo Ball |
8.719 |
|
Brandon Ingram |
7.265 |
|
Kyle Kuzma |
1.975 |
|
Josh Hart |
1.934 |
|
2019 2nd Round Pick |
.897 |
|
Empty Roster Charges @ 897,158 x 5 |
4.486 |
|
Total: |
108.999 |
Step 4: Sign Depth to Fill Out the Roster
1. Sign Patrick Beverley to the Mid-Level Exception for a 3+1 deal.
2. Sign Dwyane Wade, Jose Calderon, Channing Frye, Thabo Sefolosha, and Marcin Gortat to deals at the Veteran's Minimum
The Final Depth Chart would look like this:
|
2019-20 Lakers Depth Chart |
|||
|
PG: |
Lonzo Ball |
Patrick Beverley |
Jose Calderon |
|
SG: |
Jimmy Butler |
Josh Hart |
Dwyane Wade |
|
SF: |
Kawhi Leonard |
Brandon Ingram |
Thabo Sefolosha |
|
PF: |
LeBron James |
Kyle Kuzma |
Channing Frye |
|
C: |
JaVale McGee |
Marcin Gortat |
2020 2nd Round Pick |
Sources: RealGM & Spotrac