Find A Way To Open Up Cap Space For Talent, Not Another Star
Obviously getting out of Russell Westbrook’s contract is key, but should they be able to actually trade Westbrook in the offseason, the best scenario for the Los Angeles Lakers is not necessarily to bring back John Wall, but a handful of secondary pieces to round out their roster. Better yet, they can open up cap space to sign 2-3 key secondary talents around LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
One of the biggest problems with the Lakers this season is their lack of a supporting cast due to the fact that their front-office has no cap space to maneuver around.
LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook are making a combined $120.6 million this season and with Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn making a combined $14.5 million this season, the Lakers already find themselves over the luxury tax threshold with five players.
Horton-Tucker holds a minimal role with this team and Nunn has yet to even make his debut in a Lakers’ uniform due to a bone bruise that he has been dealing with since the offseason.
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Financial stability is what builds a successful championship team and the Lakers got greedy after winning their championship in 2020. They had Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and others, but they got rid of all of their secondary talent for Russell Westbrook and look where it has left them.
Having three All-Star talents is great, but not in this case for the Lakers because their best secondary talent are nearing the end of their careers!
Experience helps you win games in the playoffs, but with the way this league has changed over the past few years, having a reliable bench and reliable role players is much more important than having as many stars as possible on your roster.
Almost no player in the league can play all 48 minutes night-in and night-out anymore, which is why a point of emphasis has been put on bench talents and secondary scorers, which the Lakers currently have none of.
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If they were somehow able to get out of Russell Westbrook’s $47 million player option for next season, the Lakers would immediately have breathing room from a financial perspective, but how a trade would work is what makes this whole plan crumble to the ground.
No team in the league is interested in Russell Westbrook right now and as mentioned earlier, the only possibility that was presented to the Lakers at the NBA trade deadline was swapping Westbrook for Wall, still leaving the Lakers with no cap space to play around with.
Maybe John Wall would fit in better than Russell Westbrook, but he is not the player that would make them immensely better and we are talking about another former All-Star with long-term durability concerns.
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The Lakers may very well be doomed heading into the 2022-23 season and they may have to wait until the 2023 offseason to fully sit down and figure out their plans for a quick “reboot” of talent on their roster.
The only problem though is that because of the decisions they have made with their cap space and luxury taxes, LeBron James’ immediate future is now in question and the Lakers could very well be heading for rock-bottom in this league, especially since they have no future talents on their roster.
