The Los Angeles Lakers are still gearing up for a trade. Basketball Insiders cap analyst Eric Pincus stated in his latest report in which he discussed some of the best deals financially this offseason.
Pincus lauded the Lakers front-office for wisely exploiting the loopholes in the current collective bargaining agreement.
The analyst believes the verdict of signing Luol Deng, Timofey Mozgov and Jordan Clarkson will entirely depend on their performance throughout the length of their respective contracts. Nevertheless, these questionable big money signings didn't deter the Lakers' plan of landing a max-contract player next summer.
"The Lakers gave the trio of signings higher salaries for 2016-17, which then descend a year before rising again in seasons three and four. The team could have nearly $32 million in cap space next summer," Pincus stressed.
Moreover, Pincus also discussed the possibility of the Lakers pulling off another Calderon-esque move by absorbing a salary-dump player and getting additional assets through a trade.
As long as offseason commitments Brandon Ingram, Marcelo Huertas and Tarik Black remain unsigned and they find a way to release Nick Young (stretch provision), the Lakers can still create $13 million worth of salary cap, which is enough to accommodate such trades.
"The Lakers do have an unnamed trade target in mind, but are also preserving space for another opportunistic Calderon-like deal," Pincus added.
Layups:
The Lakers front-office remains hopeful they can land a Russell Westbrook or DeMarcus Cousins before the start of the season.
Despite missing on marquee free-agents this summer, the Lakers are getting mentioned as one of the prime destinations in case these superstars get traded.
The Lakers have a nice collection of young talents (D'Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle & Brandon Ingram) and cache of second-round picks to throw in as potential trade chips.
The name of Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel is also emerging another potential trade target for the purple-and-gold, though many insiders aren't buying it since it's unlikely the Lakers will make deals for someone lacking a superstar label.