Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Julius Randle somehow helped the team when getting traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Brooklyn Nets. Tuesday night’s trade saw the Nets, Timberwolves, and Chicago Bulls getting a three-team move done before the NBA Draft. This is relevant to the Lakers due to Chicago and Brooklyn being the only other teams with more or near the same cap space entering free agency.
The Bulls received center Nicolas Claxton from the Nets and didn’t give anything up to fully add his salary via their open cap space. Brooklyn took on an extra $10 million by trading away Claxton and taking on Randle’s contract in exchange. Both teams now have less cap space to make life difficult for the Lakers and their free agent plans.
NBA reporter Keith Smith listed the current top three cap space figures after the trade:
Los Angeles Lakers: $52.1 million
Brooklyn Nets: $36.1 million
Chicago Bulls: $32.5 million
The Lakers will likely wait until free agency officially starts to make their moves. All three teams will be able to add at least one more difference maker to the roster. However, it is good news for the Lakers that they’ll have an advantage to keep their top names and still make a run at a few other targets.
Big News For Austin Reaves Offseason Plans
Brooklyn is the only team that poses a realistic threat to the Lakers when it comes to signing Austin Reaves via free agency. Rumors indicate that the Nets will try to offer Reaves a max contract, but the Lakers can easily match or offer more money if they desire.
A trade for Randle and rumored trade interest in Trey Murphy sees Brooklyn looking at other options from Reaves. The Lakers have reportedly been preparing to pay Reaves his value to ensure he remains part of the future with Luka Doncic.
Chicago was the only other team who could even offer Reaves a max contract, outside of the Nets and Lakers. The cap space changes basically confirm that the Lakers will keep Reaves since they have more money than Brooklyn and have shown interest in retaining him all season.
How This Impacts Lakers Other Plans
The Lakers will likely have the first chance to make big moves in free agency since the two biggest names are already on their roster. Most of the cap space will likely be used to extend both Reaves and LeBron James on new deals.
Chicago and Brooklyn will likely have the option to outbid the Lakers for their other free agents after Los Angeles uses most of their spending money. However, it remains unlikely that two rebuilding teams would look to spend on veteran names that won’t impact their results too much.
The Lakers will look to retain some combination of Luke Kennard, Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, and Jaxson Hayes after signing the big two names. Other teams will likely impact that market for these four since the contract figures will be lower stakes than for the top free agents.
Lakers Surprisingly Benefit Most From Nets Julius Randle Trade