The Lakers are going to have the room to land a max free agent in a few days. 1st reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the lakers are trading Moe Wagner, Jemerrio Jones, and Isaac Bonga to the Washington Wizards. Anthony Davis will waive his $4M trade kicker so the lakers can clear the cap space to have $32M to sign a max level free agent when free agency begins on Sunday June 30th at 3pm PST. Shams Charania of The Athletic is reporting that the lakers will also send the wizards their 2022 2nd round pick in the deal.
The Lakers will now enter free agency with up to $32 million in space, enough to sign a max free agent. The trade occurring now may serve the notion that the Lakers feel confident they can sign a third star. The organization has been linked to the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Kemba Walker, Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irving but has not been reported as being in the lead for any of them. Recent reports have indicated a mutual interest in reuniting with former second overall pick D’Angelo Russell.
Of course, the purple and gold also have the option of splitting their significant cap space among multiple players in order to create more depth on a barren roster that now only includes Davis, LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma and second-round pick Talen Horton-Tucker.
What seems clear is that the Lakers will chase stars first with the option of going after top-tier role players if they are unsuccessful.
