Bullet point summary by AI
- The Lakers traded Deandre Ayton to the Wizards for Jaden Hardy and two picks, freeing up crucial financial flexibility for their next roster moves.
- To sign a wing defender or a backup big man like Andre Drummond, they must clear extra salary by trading or waiving Jarred Vanderbilt.
- These high-stakes moves will determine if Rob Pelinka can successfully build a championship-ready supporting cast around superstar Luka Dončić.
After going on a quarter-billion-dollar shopping spree on the first day of free agency, the Los Angeles Lakers gave themselves a bit more spending power Friday by trading Deandre Ayton to the Washington Wizards for Jaden Hardy and two second-round picks, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
That deal suggests another shoe may be soon to drop.
According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, the Lakers “are now pursuing both a wing defender and a backup big man” in the wake of the Ayton trade. However, they currently project to have less than $2 million in cap space after agreeing to deals for Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton, the latter of whom they’ll likely sign with the room mid-level exception.
Andre Drummond, who spent 21 games with the Lakers in 2020-21, is a “name that’s come up when talking to rival teams about a player who would fit the Lakers’ current roster,” according to Dan Woike of The Athletic. However, Drummond does not appear keen on settling for a minimum contract. The same likely goes for Jonathan Kuminga, whom the Lakers are reportedly exploring ways to sign, according to Stein and Jake Fischer.
If the Lakers are serious about signing either Kuminga or Drummond, they’ll need to clear additional salary. But how?
Bye bye, Jarred Vanderbilt?
Jarred Vanderbilt would be the most obvious candidate for the Lakers to shed. He’s earning $12.4 million this year and has a $13.3 million player option next year that he’s a virtual lock to pick up. (He’s not fetching a salary that large on the free-agent market.)
However, salary-dumping him likely won’t be cheap.
Perhaps the Lakers could use the two second-round picks that they acquired from the Wizards in the Ayton trade to help convince a team to take Vanderbilt into its non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Maybe they could sweeten the offer with Hardy ($6.0 million) or Dalton Knecht ($4.2 million), which would help them clear even more salary as an added benefit.
If the Lakers can’t find a taker for Vanderbilt on the trade market, they could always waive-and-stretch him instead. They’d spread the remaining $25.7 million on his contract across their cap sheet over the next five seasons, which would leave them with a dead cap hit of roughly $5.1 million each year. That would free up roughly $7.3 million in additional spending power for the Lakers this summer.
Prior to the Ayton trade, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that several league sources were wondering whether the Lakers were “planning some sort of trade or using the stretch provision” on Vanderbilt or Ayton with Rui Hachimura still unsigned. The Lakers would presumably prefer to salary-dump Vanderbilt—who would fit into another team’s non-taxpayer MLE—so they don’t have to eat his dead cap hit for the next half-decade.
If the Lakers do go the waive-and-stretch route with Vanderbilt, they could have more than $9 million in cap space left before they sign Sexton with the room MLE and re-sign Austin Reaves to his four-year, $184.8 million max contract. That still might not be enough for Kuminga or to re-sign Hachimura, but it should be plenty for a backup center like Drummond, Jonas Valančiūnas or Kevon Looney, all of whom Charania named as potential Lakers targets.
It’s worth noting that teams can sign players to veteran-minimum contracts even if they’re over the salary cap, so the Lakers don’t have to save any cap space for that. Once they figure out a way to shed additional salary, they figure to make one more splash in free agency and then round out the rest of their roster with minimum contracts.
Wings typically cost more than backup big men, although the center market has been largely deranged in free agency this year. Either way, the Lakers can’t rest on their laurels quite yet despite their offseason makeover. President of basketball operations Rob Pelinka still has work to do as he looks to further tailor the roster around Luka Dončić.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.
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