2017 Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers posted a bottom-five record for the third straight season, but there were some positive signs for the franchise in 2016/17. The Lakers appear to have found a keeper in head coach Luke Walton, and after some turmoil in the front office and the ownership group, Jeanie Buss re-asserted control of the organization and brought in Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka to run the basketball operations department. Johnson and Pelinka caught a break when the Lakers kept their lottery pick – now No. 2 overall – and they’ll be tasked with determining how best to return the franchise to contention.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Lakers financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2017:

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

Team Options

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Cap Holds

  • Nick Young ($10,343,444) — If player option is declined
  • No. 2 overall pick ($6,286,560)
  • Tyler Ennis ($2,666,707)
  • Thomas Robinson ($1,471,382)
  • Metta World Peace ($1,471,382)
  • No. 28 overall pick ($1,414,920)
  • Total: $23,654,395

Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000

Maximum Cap Room: $22,856,044

  • With nine guaranteed contracts, two cap holds for first-round picks, and one cap charge for an empty roster slot, the Lakers would have $78,143,956 on their books. That would give the team a sizable chunk of cap room, albeit not quite enough for a maximum salary player. The Lakers aren’t likely to sign anyone to a max contract this summer, but if they wanted to, they’d need to move guaranteed contracts and/or draft picks to create space.

Footnotes:

  1. Black’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 4.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and The Vertical was used in the creation of this post.

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