Getty Los Angeles Lakers
Having given up two first-round picks, and the right to swap another, in the next four NBA drafts, along with three future second-rounders, the Lakers enter March’s critical trade-deadline season with limited assets. Beyond that, they face a mounting luxury-tax bill that could skyrocket this offseason if they re-sign their own free agents.
That was why it got some notice this week when veteran Los Angeles journalist Ramona Shelburne, now with ESPN, noted that the Lakers would have to deal away one (or both) of the team’s popular bench players to make a big upgrade to the roster.
“If you don’t want to wait and see who’s available on the buyout market then you could get creative,” Shelburne said on ESPN’s The Jump. “Maybe they have a couple of young players that people like, Talen Horton-Tucker, Alex Caruso. I know Lakers fans will freak out if I even say those names because everybody loves them.”
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We’re exactly a month away from the NBA trade deadline, so we went hot stove with @ZachLowe_NBA, @MarcJSpears and @RamonaShelburne to find out the most likely buyers, sellers and buyout candidates to look for over the next few weeks:
But league executives agree with Shelburne, that the Lakers, with limited trade chips available, would have to trade either Horton-Tucker, who is only 20 years old, or Caruso, who is 27.
“Obviously they like both of those guys,” one general manager told Heavy.com. “but if you’re weighing things as they are now and you want to bring in a big name, you want someone significant who is close to being a third star, the only way to give another team the assets to do that is with Horton-Tucker and, to a lesser extent, Caruso. They’re must-have players in a deal. I mean, the question you have to ask is, are those guys getting you closer to another title than bringing in a more experienced star player?”
Victor Oladipo-to-Lakers Example Trade
The name the GM first brought up: Victor Oladipo of the Rockets. Oladipo turned down a two-year, $45 million extension last week and will be a free agent this summer. He has struggled with his shooting since he was traded to Houston as part of the James Harden deal in January (39.0% from the field and 29.7% from the 3-point line), but Oladipo remains a dynamic scorer (19.0 points per game) and all-around contributor who could take playoff pressure off LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Victor Oladipo turned down a two-year, $45.2M contract extension from the Rockets, per @wojespn
Dipo is expected to pursue a longer-term deal
With the Brooklyn Nets adding Harden to a Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving pairing, pressure is on the Lakers to keep pace with a team that has posted a league-best offensive rating of 120.0 since the deal. The Lakers’ offensive rating in that span is 108.5, 22nd in the NBA.
That’s a potential Finals matchup and there is no guarantee the Lakers will even get there. The Lakers could get a challenge, too, in the Western Conference, from the surging Utah Jazz as well as from the Clippers. It figures to be a much tougher path to the championship than what L.A. faced last year in the Orlando bubble.
“That’s what you’ve got to weigh,” the GM said. “You like Horton-Tucker, you like Caruso, that is great. But how are they going to help you keep up with Brooklyn or the Clippers? They’re nice role players but the Lakers have enough role players, those are not hard to find. How are you going to keep up with these other bigger threats if you really want to win another title?”
The Lakers could, theoretically, send out four players—Dennis Schroder, Horton-Tucker, Alfonzo McKinnie and Wes Matthews—for Oladipo and, in doing so, create a bit more room under the luxury tax apron to sign players on the buyout market.
But that would not be a popular move, especially with James. Horton-Tucker is represented by Klutch Sports, the same agency that reps James, and the Lakers are loathe to move their clients.
“The Klutch thing, really, could kill any chance that (Horton-Tucker) gets moved,” the GM said.
Luxury Tax Problem Looms for Lakers, Free Agents
There is another wrinkle, too, though and that might nudge the Lakers back toward a potential deal involving Caruso and/or THT—both are free agents next year.
Caruso, at $2.8 million, is on a bargain contract. So is Horton-Tucker ($1.5 million).
Caruso is due for a raise and will probably land a deal that starts in the range of the midlevel exception ($9.2 million). THT is a more difficult case because of his youth and upside—he is a restricted free agent but he could, under NBA rules, be offered a deal worth $82 million over four years. That would be difficult for the Lakers to match.
Alex Caruso expected to have multiple suitors in free agency this summer: t.co/pJrZdeDpfN
Schroder, too, is an impending free agent, and the Lakers gave sizable new contracts to Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope this offseason, as well as max-level deals to Anthony Davis and James.
“Eventually, all of that is going to come home to roost,” another league executive said. “You can’t keep everybody. I don’t know about trading THT or Caruso but I do know that you might lose them anyway. I don’t know how much of an upgrade you are going to be able to get. But you gotta be realistic, there is going to be a big luxury tax bill with all of this and they might be gone soon anyway.”
Indeed, it has been estimated that the Lakers could be looking at $100 million in luxury taxes when the dust settles next year–if they keep everyone on board.
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