On Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers finally acquired Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans, sending Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first round draft picks in return. However, the Lakers might opt to delay the deal if they want to open up nearly $32 million in cap space.
Albert Nahmad of Heat Hoops, an NBA salary cap enthusiast, detailed the scenario below and suggested that the Lakers might have required the Pelicans to delay the execution of the trade so that they can open up a max salary slot.
Lakers gave up substantial assets in their agreed-to trade with Pelicans for Anthony Davis. It’s certainly possible that, as a condition, they required NOP to delay execution until 7/30, to give them $32.5M cap room (vs. $23.7M – $27.7M) and Davis his full $4.1M trade bonus.
— Albert Nahmad (@AlbertNahmad) June 16, 2019
If Lakers require Pelicans to wait until 7/30 to execute the Anthony Davis trade to get them up to $32.5M of cap room, they could then try to sign a 30% max free agent (e.g., Kemba Walker – $32.7M projected max) before officially completing the trade as an over-the-cap team.
— Albert Nahmad (@AlbertNahmad) June 16, 2019
If Pelicans redirect #4 pick they’ll get from Lakers in Anthony Davis trade, they could include the 3rd team in the trade or complete it after… If #4 pick is signed first, he’d count $7.1M (vs $0). If Pelicans take the $7.1M into cap room, they wouldn’t have aggregation issues.
— Albert Nahmad (@AlbertNahmad) June 16, 2019
As mentioned, making the deal official now would give them just a $23.7 million to $27.7 million cap room, as opposed to their desired $32.5 million. Likewise, Davis would have to give up his $4.1 million trade bonus if the Lakers want to max out their cap space.
This would be ideal for Los Angeles as they are in win-now mode. They gave up three young, up-and-coming prospects and three future picks for a big time catch in Davis. They pretty much mortgaged the future of the franchise for the chance to compete for a title now.
Obviously, the Davis deal instantly makes them strong contenders, considering that the Western Conference is now a wide-open race with the injuries to Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. Adding another max-level type player makes their chances even greater.
Nonetheless, if the Lakers do not get another star to add to the LeBron-AD pairing, the added space gives them more flexibility to get better pieces and role players around their superstar duo.
It will be interesting to see how the Lakers front office will fill out their roster.
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