Getty The Lakers could make a push to trade for Andrew Wiggins.
The Los Angeles Lakers are going to need to get creative to make any real improvements to their roster this offseason. The Athletic’s John Hollinger detailed why the Lakers need to add a legitimate third star to pair with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
With the Lakers slated to be well above the salary cap, one of the few options the team has to add a marquee player is to take on a bad contract. Two players the former Grizzlies executive mentioned as possibilities for the Lakers are Thunder big man Al Horford and Warriors guard Andrew Wiggins.
“When Brooklyn and Milwaukee were in a somewhat similar position, they nabbed their third star by trading all their draft assets and cobbling together just enough matching salary to make it work,” Hollinger noted. “The problem for the Lakers is that they already did that in the Davis trade, and now don’t have enough left over to swing a trade for an A-List talent. …The other route would be to trade for a merely ‘pretty good’ player on a not-great contract, somebody like Al Horford or Andrew Wiggins. Even this pathway is fraught, however, as the Lakers would probably have to give up some combination of Kuzma, Harrell and draft equity, and/or sign-and-trade Horton-Tucker…. all to get somebody who doesn’t really move the needle that much, and still jacks up the payroll.”
Wiggins Has a $29.5 Million Salary Next Season
Why would the Warriors be willing to deal Wiggins this summer? To move off of his five-year, $147.7 million contract which the guard still has three seasons remaining on the deal.
It is a lot of money to pay for a player who averaged 18.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists last season. The former No. 1 pick of the 2014 NBA Draft has not exactly lived up to the lofty expectations that followed him into the league but is still a valuable player.
The challenge for the Lakers is a package with Kyle Kuzma as the centerpiece is likely even less appealing for the Warriors. Talen Horton-Tucker is a player with value across the NBA, but he is also a restricted free agent. Montrezl Harrell can opt-out of his current deal meaning the Lakers would not be able to trade the big man. Warriors general manager Bob Myers believes Wiggins can be even better as his career continues with Golden State.
“Playing with Steph [Curry] is fantastic. But we play a unique style,” Myers told NBC Sports Bay Area in March. “The way Steph moves off the ball. When Steph’s off the ball running around like a madman, sometimes you’re kind of like, ‘Where am I supposed to go? I don’t want to get in his way. What should I do?’ It takes a little while. I think Andrew is still learning.”
Pelinka: ‘The Goal Is to Try to Keep That Core Group Together’
The reality is the Lakers’ options this offseason are limited and the only realistic solution to add another star would be through a sign-and-trade. The biggest piece of the offseason puzzle is the future of Dennis Schroder, but the team will find it hard to find a similar caliber player if they let the point guard walk in free agency.
The Lakers can go over the cap to re-sign Schroder since the team has his Bird Rights but will not have the cap space to fill the void with a star free agent if they do not bring back the guard. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka discussed keeping the team’s core together, hinting at the fact that a blockbuster deal is unlikely.
“I’m convinced that, again, without some of the unforeseen circumstances this year, the challenges that we had to face, that we’d be a championship-caliber team,” Pelinka said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “So the goal is to try to keep that core group together.”