As the 2019-20 NBA season was one unlike any other in the Association’s history, this offseason will now be unlike any other as free agency decisions will be mulled over and decided in October/November as opposed to June/July. The biggest decision that the Lakers were going to always have this offseason is, of course, what to do with Anthony Davis as he is expected to opt-out of his current contract to attain more money. That decision has reportedly been almost finalized, as Shams Charania of The Athletic has reported that Davis will opt-out, but only to re-sign with the Lakers for an undecided amount of years and money. In the same article, Charania reported on what Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope expect to do, as Charania reports that both players plan to decline their player option for the 2020-21 NBA season.
Caldwell-Pope is expected to decline his $8.5 million player option, sources said. There’s significant mutual interest between Caldwell-Pope and the Lakers, but there will be some external suitors. A team such as Atlanta — searching for productive veterans around All-Star Trae Young — could emerge with interest.
The Lakers have full Bird Rights on Caldwell-Pope, meaning they can sign him for any salary up to his max without having to use a different exception.
Sources said Rondo is expected to decline his option, and he will have interest from the Lakers and others believing he is a piece to build on a championship roster
Sources: Anthony Davis plans to opt out of contract and re-sign with the Lakers.
Inside Pass on Davis, Lakers/Heat offseasons and more across league at @TheAthleticNBA: https://t.co/P5YRf3Fbzb
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 15, 2020
This isn’t surprising to hear, as Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have both shown their worth as key role players on a championship team. The two and their agents (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is obviously represented by Rich Paul who also represents LeBron James and Anthony Davis) will try and get Rondo and KCP two new deals that may have more value than what their player options could have got them. It also isn’t surprising to hear that some teams will have interest in Rondo as well as the Hawks being interested in KCP. The Hawks have needed some shooting to go around Trae Young, and Rondo has shown that he still has the insane basketball knowledge to help a team get over the hump in the playoffs.
We’ll just have to see how everything shakes out regarding the salary cap as well as other free agents out there that may become available to the Lakers.
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