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First, the Lakers were able to trade for Anthony Davis. Summer of 2019 was already looking like a fruitful one. Next, the Lakers set their sights on a third star. Los Angeles would not be able to acquire that star due to their cap situation. This is in part due to the fact that the AD trade will be finalized on July 6.
The Lakers will need to make more roster moves to free up more cap space. That is what ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting now.
Lakers are trying to expand Anthony Davis trade and create ability to open max salary slot on July 6, sources tell @BobbyMarks42 and me. Lakers offering contracts of Mo Wagner/Jemerrio Jones/Isaac Bonga to additional teams, so LA can satisfy CBA rules on creating $32M in space.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 19, 2019
The remaining players on contracts may be added to the Anthony Davis trade, as noted here:
.@wojespn is not referring to Lakers clearing Mo Wagner, Isaac Bonga and Jemerrio Jones. He’s referring to adding them to the Anthony Davis trade so they can execute it as an over-cap team, and sending the three players to a third team. That’s what gets Lakers to $32M cap room.
— Albert Nahmad (@AlbertNahmad) June 19, 2019
This would be a small price to pay with players like Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irving available.
The Lakers would still require Anthony Davis to waive his 15% trade bonus. This is not uncommon as Kyrie Irving waived his trade bonus when he was traded to the Celtics to strengthen the roster.
All of these point to the fact that the Lakers agreed on the trade principle to occur on July 6. With time to still push the trade back to the end of July to open up cap space, hopefully, the front office can do all they can to afford a third star. The front office still has much to prove and their lack of understanding of the CBA is discouraging.
The money that the Lakers can free up can be helpful towards acquiring another superstar or building a team with more depth.
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