DeMarcus Cousins and Kevin Love (Photo : Getty Images)
The LA Lakers continue to be mentioned as a team in NBA trade rumors as they made a surprising move by signing Yi Jianlian from China. Pundits believe there may be more to the move than meets the eye.
The intriguing contract is something that even cap experts have not seen before. This was discussed by salary cap expert Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. It was discussed in a previous report that the contract is based on incentives.
The incentives are based on games played which is something that the Lakers can actually control. To illustrate, Pincus mentioned the "lowest salary" scenario.
"In the case of Yi, his base salary pays just the minimum for a player with five years of experience ($1.1 million). In fact, his full $8 million salary is only guaranteed for $250,000," Pincus explained. He also outlined the possibilities of the contract in a trade.
"If Yi does not play in 20 games and is traded on Dec. 15, the Lakers would be able to bring back up to $12.1 million in salary. The incoming team could then waive Yi immediately at $341,737, shaving off $11.8 million off their cap."
Pincus also had a scenario where the Lakers trade Julius Randle and Yi for DeMarcus Cousins.
"If, for example, the Sacramento Kings decided to part ways with DeMarcus Cousins - something they are not currently considering - the Lakers would be required to send out $11,957,900 in salary. Theoretically, the Lakers would be able to reach that number by sending out Julius Randle, Anthony Brown and Yi ($12,141,756 combined). Sacramento would need two open roster spots to make such a deal legal in-season."
The same formula can be applied to Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the Lakers need to send more salary back as Love earns $21 million.
The Lakers can also trade for expiring contracts with hopes to win them over in free agency. A defensive power forward like Serge Ibaka (who can also be a small-ball five) who is owed $ 12.2 million can be traded for Yi (and maybe a minimum filler) as Cap Strategist points out. Also, the Lakers don't need to decimate their young core in this scenario.
"(Yi) could thus be traded, with his outgoing salary counting as $8,000,00o to return a $12,100,000 salary, and the receiving team could then waive Yi for that figure + the prorated 48 hour waiver period (if unclaimed) as a cap hit . That's a legitimate trade chip for aggregation possibilities and for potential salary relief for the receiving team depending on other assets."
The contract's construction opens up possibilities for the Lakers who creatively worked within the cap system to build a unique, unprecedented deal. More teams could possibly follow suit if the loopholes that the Lakers worked with are not ironed out in the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement.
