Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Los Angeles Lakers
With Kobe Bryant‘s farewell tour complete, the Lakers are set to clear his massive cap hit from their books, freeing up a significant amount of cap room and creating major flexibility for the coming offseason. Of course, it’s not just Bryant’s monster cap number that will be expunged — assuming the team doesn’t intend to bring back Roy Hibbert, his $15MM+ salary (and $23MM cap hold) can be cleared as well. With only about $23MM in guaranteed money owed to players for 2016/17, the Lakers will have the freedom to splash around in free agency this summer, either adding veterans to a young core that includes D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and this year’s No. 2 overall pick, or using some of those attractive, affordable pieces to try to acquire pricier stars.
See how Los Angeles’ cap situation looks for 2016/17 as Hoops Rumors continues its offseason salary cap digest series.
Guaranteed Salary
- Lou Williams ($7,000,000)
- Nick Young ($5,443,918)
- D’Angelo Russell ($5,332,800)
- Julius Randle ($3,267,120)
- Larry Nance Jr. ($1,207,680)
- Anthony Brown ($874,636)
- Total: $23,126,154
Player Options
- Brandon Bass ($3,135,000)
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- None
Restricted Free Agents (Qualifying Offers/Cap Holds)
- Jordan Clarkson ($2,725,003/$2,725,003)
- Ryan Kelly ($2,155,313/$3,276,075)
- Tarik Black ($1,180,431/$1,180,431)
- Marcelo Huertas ($1,074,636/$1,074,636)
- Totals: $7,135,383/$8,256,145
Unrestricted Free Agents (Cap Holds)
- Kobe Bryant ($30,300,000)1
- Roy Hibbert ($23,388,324)
- Robert Sacre ($980,431)
- Metta World Peace ($980,431)
- Total: $55,649,186
Other Cap Holds
- No. 2 pick ($4,401,400)
Projected Salary Cap: $92,000,000
Footnotes:
- The cap hold for Bryant will be the maximum salary for a veteran of 10 or more seasons. The number shown here is an estimate based on the projected cap figure.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Lakers Work Out English
- A.J. English has worked out for the Lakers , Zagoria reports (Twitter link). The Iona product will work out for the Clippers on Wednesday and the Mavs on Thursday
Draft Notes: Ingram, Maker, Briscoe
One league executive told Chad Ford of ESPN.com that Brandon Ingram’s future in the NBA will be at the shooting guard position. “Back when the Pacers used to play Paul George at the 2, I felt like that was his best position,” the executive told Ford. “I feel the same way about Ingram. That’s where he can be devastating and his lack of strength won’t come back to haunt him. If he becomes a superstar, I think it will be because he developed the ability to play that spot.” Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors profiled Ingram earlier today.
- Thon Maker will play the five spot as he develops in the league, one anonymous GM tells Ford, as he writes in the same piece. Ford speculates that the Celtics, Nuggets, Sixers and Suns may look to draft the Australian. All four of those teams have multiple first round picks.
- Most scouts aren’t optimistic about Perry Ellis’ chances of hearing his name called on draft night, though some have him going in the second round, Ford adds in the same piece.
- Isaiah Briscoe has worked out for the Wolves today, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets. Briscoe will also work out for the Hawks on Tuesday, Zagoria adds.
Pacific Notes: Curry, Blatt, Shaw, Crawford
Two-time MVP Stephen Curry has earned a raise, but the Warriors can’t afford to renegotiate, writes Danny Leroux of The Sporting News. Curry will receive a little more than $12.1MM next season in the final year of his contract, about half of what other top stars make. Working out a new deal over the summer would prevent Curry from reaching free agency, but it would also upend the team’s salary structure, Leroux warns.
Curry is eligible for a new contract because he will be entering the fifth year of his current deal. However, any raise he receives — and it would surely be a maximum contract starting in the neighborhood of $25.9MM — would drain Golden State’s cap space. The Warriors plan to operate under the cap this summer, and a new contract for Curry could cost the team Harrison Barnes or Shaun Livingston and Festus Ezeli. Also, the NBA limits renegotiated extensions to four seasons, which would include 2016/17. If Curry waits until free agency next summer, he can receive a five-year contract that would run through 2021/22, and he could receive even more money if max deals are increased as part of a 2017 labor renegotiation.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- David Blatt is not on Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s short list to become his top assistant, tweets Monte Poole of CSNBayArea. Kerr was interested in Blatt for the position two years ago.
- Brian Shaw is nearing a return to the Lakers as lead assistant, but the rest of Luke Walton’s staff is uncertain, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register. Shaw, who was an assistant in L.A. under Phil Jackson from 2005-11, was also rumored to be a candidate for assistant posts with the Pacers and Magic, Oram reports. He adds that no one knows if any members of former head coach Byron Scott’s staff will be retained, as Walton may seek coaches with ties to the Lakers or he may try to lure other assistants from Golden State, where Walton had been serving as lead assistant.
- Shaw’s hiring is imminent, tweets Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News, who says the two sides are finalizing the contract.
- It wouldn’t take a playoff team to pry free agent combo guard Jamal Crawford away from the Clippers, tweets Noah Coslov of CineSport. “Definitely money, situation, could be a team on the rise,” Crawford said in listing his priorities in an interview on Bleacher Report Radio. “Doesn’t have to be contender.”
Central Notes: Blatt, Rose, Butler, McMillan
Former Cavaliers coach David Blatt plans to be on someone’s bench next season, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. After taking Cleveland to the NBA Finals last season, Blatt was fired in January with a 30-11 record. It’s a rare break for the 57-year-old, who has held coaching jobs around the world since 1993. “I’m going to coach next year,” Blatt said. “I’m not going to sit out. It’s not in my nature. I want to work. I’ll be back somewhere. Could be anywhere.” He added that he prefers a head coaching position overseas to working as an assistant in the NBA.
There’s more news from the Central Division:
- It’s time for the Bulls to break up the Derrick Rose–Jimmy Butler backcourt, argues K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. Johnson says their relationship has become “untenable” because both players consider themselves to be the team leader, both need the ball in their hands to be most effective and neither has the 3-point shooting skills to complement the other. Johnson believes Rose’s injury history would make him difficult to deal, even though he only has one season left on his contract at $21.3MM. Butler would probably bring a greater return, but it would signify a rebuilding process that Chicago may not be ready for. If they’re both back next season, Johnson suggests drafting a shooting guard, possibly Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine, and moving Butler to small forward.
- New Pacers coach Nate McMillan has to change his style to succeed in the modern NBA, former All-Star Gary Payton tells Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star. Payton, who played for McMillan in Seattle, says the coach will need to drop his disciplinarian image. “[McMillan] can’t be that militant coach,” Payton said. “You see what happened with George Karl up in Sacramento. When you’ve got players and it happens like that, you’re going to be the odd man out. I don’t think ownership these days are taking the side of a coach unless you’re a [Gregg] Popovich or something like that, over these $15MM-$20MM players.”
- The Bucks are weighing their options with the 36th and 38th picks in next month’s draft, writes Charles F. Gardner of The Journal-Sentinel. Milwaukee concentrated on forwards on its first workout this week, which included Weber State’s Joel Bolomboy and Louisiana-Lafayette’s Shawn Long. Trading the picks to move into the first round is also an option. “Could we ever bundle those picks and move up?” said GM John Hammond. “Once again, not easy to do. Do we stay with both picks? Do we look at making one of those picks for a current roster spot and maybe another one with potentially an international player that could stay and continue to develop? We’ll see as it moves forward.”
Lakers Notes: Shaw, Ingram, Scott
The Lakers are nearing a deal with Brian Shaw to become the team’s lead assistant coach on Luke Walton’s staff, Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Walton always wanted Shaw to be the lead assistant on his staff, Turner adds (Twitter link). Walton played for the Lakers and Shaw was an assistant coach for the team during Los Angeles’ two most recent NBA championships.
Here’s more from Los Angeles:
- Brandon Ingram’s drive to be great and his dedication to winning have impressed the Lakers‘ brass, sources tell Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. The Lakers won’t likely have a choice between Ingram and Ben Simmons, as Philadelphia is expected to take one of the two. Sixers coach Brett Brown recently said that the team isn’t leaning toward taking any particular player at No. 1.
- If the Lakers had a choice between Simmons and Ingram, Ingram should be the pick because he fits the team better, several league executives tell Mark Medina of the the Orange County Register. Medina also speculated that the team will discuss trading the pick to Sacramento for DeMarcus Cousins or Indiana for Paul George.
- Former coach Byron Scott said the Lakers were seriously considering taking Kristaps Porzingis with the No. 2 overall pick last year, but Porzingis’ conditioning during his workout with the team was the reason for passing on the big man, as Scott told Dan Patrick on his radio show (h/t Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post). Scott added that once he saw Porzingis in the Summer League that year, he knew the rookie was going be “pretty good.”
First-Round Pick Scenarios
The Lakers were able to keep their 2016 first-rounder when they landed the No.2 overall pick in Tuesday’s lottery. The team still owes Philadelphia and Orlando a first round pick each and Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders breaks down the possible pick exchanges in a series of tweets. Los Angeles sends its 2017 first-rounder to Philly if it falls outside the top-3. If the Sixers get the 2017 pick, then the Magic receive the Lakers’ unprotected 2019 selection. If it doesn’t convey in 2017, then the Lakers send their 2018 unprotected pick to Philly and they wouldn’t owe Orlando a first-rounder at all. Instead, the Magic would receive a 2017 second-rounder and a 2018 second-rounder. Los Angeles is in this predicament because of its 2012 trade for Dwight Howard and its 2012 trade for Steve Nash.
- The Lakers have offered Brian Shaw a spot on their coaching staff, but the former Nuggets coach is still weighing his options, reports Bill Oram of The Los Angeles Daily News.
Lakers Prefer Simmons To Ingram
- The Lakers may not have a choice in the matter, given that the Sixers select ahead of them in this June’s draft, but team officials prefer LSU forward Ben Simmons over Duke’s Brandon Ingram, Chad Ford of ESPN. com tweets. Ingram is a better fit for the team, but many in the front office are enamored with Simmons’ star potential, Ford adds.
- The Lakers may entertain dealing away the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, but doing so may compromise the team’s current plan build around its young core, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. The scribe adds that Los Angeles will have ample opportunities to add veterans via free agency instead, given its ample cap flexibility this summer.
And-Ones: Dunn, Sanders, Calipari, Blatt
Representatives for Providence’s Kris Dunn don’t want him to go to a team with a young point guard already in place and may refuse to release his medical records to the Celtics and Suns, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Speaking on a draft lottery special, Wojnarowski said Dunn’s agents did not submit him for a physical at last week’s draft combine, which would have made his records accessible to everyone. Dunn has undergone two surgical procedures on his right shoulder, and teams may be reluctant to draft him if they are unsure of his current physical status. Dunn has been projected as a possible No. 3 pick, but his camp apparently doesn’t want him to compete for playing time with Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart in Boston or Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight in Phoenix. The Celtics own the third selection in next month’s draft, while the Suns pick fourth.
There’s more news from around the basketball world:
- Rutgers freshman point guard Corey Sanders will withdraw from the draft and return to school, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. There’s little chance that Sanders would have been drafted, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him ranked 73rd among NCAA freshmen and ESPN’s Chad Ford doesn’t have him listed among his top 100 prospects.
- Kentucky coach John Calipari, whose name has been floated for several NBA openings, plans to stay with the Wildcats for the rest of his career, he said in a message on his website. Calipari was considered a candidate for the Nets job after they fired Lionel Hollins in January, and the Kings reportedly spoke to him about taking over for George Karl last summer.
- Spanish power FC Barcelona is interested in former Cavaliers coach David Blatt, according to El Mundo Deportivo (hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Blatt recently talked with the Rockets, Kings, Knicks and Lakers about their coaching jobs.
- Twenty-four teams will compete in the Las Vegas Summer League July 8th-18th, the NBA announced today in a press release. The Spurs, coached by Becky Hammon, are the defending champions.
Latest On 2016 NBA Draft
- Indiana junior small forward Troy Williams is still undecided on whether or not he will remain in this year’s NBA draft, Scott Agness of VigilantSports tweets. Williams, who is the No. 86 overall prospect according to Givony, has upcoming workouts with the Lakers, Clippers, and Pelicans, Agness notes.
- Xavier sophomore swingman Trevon Bluiett will work out for the Lakers on Friday, Zagoria relays (via Twitter).