Getty Quinn Cook of the Golden State Warriors speaks to head coach Steve Kerr.
After bringing Quinn Cook on board, the Lakers have been able to hold off on officially executing the Anthony Davis trade as to maximize their remaining cap space left. Since losing out on Kawhi Leonard, the Lakers have gone on a spree signing Danny Green, JaVale McGee, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in addition to Cook as they attempt to spend the rest of their money once allocated for Leonard.
With the clock ticking and multiple teams itching for the Davis deal to get done given its wide-reaching ripple effect, the Lakers are looking to spend their remaining salary cap space prior to executing the trade in order to maximize their spending power.
So, just how much money do the Lakers have left to spend?
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Lakers Salary Cap Space After Quinn Cook Free Agency Signing
Going off simple math, the Lakers entered their spending spree with roughly $32 million in available cap space. The signed Danny Green to a two year deal with an AAV of $15 million bringing them immediately down to $17 million in space. From there, the Lakers signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a two-year deal with an AAV of $8 million, dropping them down to around $11 million dollars in space.
Where things get interesting is if the Lakers used their cap space or room exception to sign free agent JaVale McGee as that impacts their spending ability either way. After the Cook signing (with an AAV of $8 million), this leaves the Lakers at either $8 million in available salary cap space if McGee was signed under the Room Exception or they have roughly $4 million in cap space with the Room Exception still available.
However, factoring in that the deals are likely back-loaded and the Lakers freed up nearly $3.6 million in cap holds, they wind up closer to the range of $8-12 million in available cap space to go after remaining free agents.
The Lakers would go on to sign Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins – both on minimum deals helping keep the cap flexibility intact.
While the Leonard signing certainly stings, it may wind up being a blessing in disguise as being able to bring back a number of quality role players to help fill around the duo of Davis and James could very well still be more than enough to help lead the Lakers to another title.
Lakers Following Free Agent Signings
Rajon Rondo ended up re-signing with the Lakers after much speculation that he wanted to return to the purple and gold.
Another interesting signing was DeMarcus Cousins. The big man is coming off a number of injuries yet has incredible upside when at his best. Along with Rondo, he played extremely well alongside Davis in New Orleans and the two have natural chemistry down low. With the market seemingly non-existent for Cousins, the Lakers were able to grab Cousins on a cheap one year “prove it” deal.
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