There isn’t much to be excited about for Los Angeles Lakers fans. The team missed the playoffs and had one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history. Head coach Frank Vogel was fired after the season ended and there’s no simple solution for this mess.
While the Lakers fans can spend the coming months watching how the front office tries to fix the mess they created, there’s a bit of good news coming out of Los Angeles. One of the most baffling decisions a team has made in recent years was the Lakers’ signing of Luol Deng to a four-year, $72 million contract back in 2016.
It was a deal made by former general manager Mitch Kupchak, who was fired the following year. Through the course of the contract, dang played 57 games for the Lakers and averaged 7.5 a game. After two years on the roster, Deng and the Lakers agreed to a contract buyout. Unfortunately for the team, they’ve had to continue paying him years after he was cut. This past season, Deng’s salary of $5 million was the fifth-highest on the entire team. With the 2021-2022 season finally coming to an end, the Lakers are officially done paying off the contract.
Deng signed with the team in 2016 for four years, $72M and played a total of 57 games. Deng’s contract was then stretched.
He was the fifth-highest paid player on the Lakers’ roster this year.
ALL the latest Los Angeles Lakers news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Lakers newsletter here!
Lakers Fans Celebrate the End of Deng’s Contract
There was a time when Deng was a very good player. He was a two-time All-Star with the Chicago Bulls but he was a declining asset when the Lakers signed him. The team was desperate to figure out something to help fix them but Deng wasn’t the answer. His signing will go down as one of the worst in franchise history and is only rivaled by the four-year, $64 million contract Los Angeles gave Timofey Mozgov the following day. It was an all-time bad offseason and is a big reason why Kupchak was fired.
As Lakers fans are forced to watch other teams compete in the playoffs, they made sure to celebrate the small win of not having to pay Deng anymore.
Nobody can fault Deng for taking the money. Giving an aging veteran a big contract to join a young roster didn’t make much sense but it’s no longer the Lakers’ problem.
Could Russell Westbrook Follow a Similar Path to Deng?
Though current general manager Rob Pelinka didn’t have anything to do with the Deng signing, he made his own all-time bad move last offseason. The trade for Russell Westbrook was a complete failure and a big reason why the team failed to make the playoffs this season.
Westbrook is set to make $47 million next season if he picks up his player option, which he almost certainly will. The Lakers will try to trade him so they can just be rid of the contract. That could prove difficult if the team isn’t willing to give up draft picks to a team open to taking on that contract. Los Angeles could consider waving Westbrook and stretching his contract, similar to what they did with Deng. However, the price tag would be much higher. That should be the last resort option for the Lakers.
READ NEXT: LeBron Teaming up With Young 3-Time All-Star Can’t Be Ruled out, per Insider
Fans Celebrate Lakers Finally Getting off Former All-Star’s Horrific Contract