The Los Angeles Lakers have made a few moves that have caught the attention of the masses, like re-signing LeBron James, naming JJ Redick as the new head coach, and drafting Bronny James. But other than that, L.A. has been pretty quiet, although that could change soon.
In his latest YouTube video, The Athletic's Jovan Buha said that the Lakers are interested in either Gary Trent Jr. and Spencer Dinwiddie for their taxpayer midlevel exception. He also mentioned that the Lakers could choose to use the more than $5 million MLE on a big man, but that would require L.A. to trade Christian Wood or Jaxson Hayes, their current backup big men.
“As I’ve also said before on here, I’ve heard Christian Wood and Cam Reddish would be the two most likely guys to be salary dumped,” Buha said. “Now, maybe a team pushes to get Jaxson Hayes, and when it comes down to it, the Lakers decide that there isn’t much of a difference between Hayes and Wood.
“But my understanding, the Lakers would prioritize keeping Hayes in comparison with Wood and Reddish.”
Cam Reddish and Christian Wood expendable to Lakers
Both Christian Wood and Cam Reddish signed “prove-it” deals with the Los Angeles Lakers last offseason. Wood, who has played with a number of teams since going undrafted in 2015, inked a two-year, $5.75 million deal in September.
The results proved to be less than stellar as Wood's role under Darvin Ham was relatively minuscule. Wood averaged just 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game before undergoing season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in March.
Reddish, 24, was one of the Lakers' first free-agent signings last offseason. Once a promising prospect who played one year at Duke alongside Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett, Reddish arrived in L.A. as a reclamation project of sorts.
However, like Wood, Reddish did not break out under Ham as his offensive woes continued. He shot 38.9 percent from the field (his worst season percentage since 2021) and a career-low mark at the free-throw line. Reddish also missed most of the second half of the season dealing with knee and ankle soreness.
With LeBron James taking slightly less than the max on his new two-year deal, the Lakers have snuck under the second apron, allowing themselves the freedom to aggregate outgoing salaries in a trade. But with the team being limited to taking back no more salary than it is sending out in any trade, including players like Wood or Reddish will probably be necessary at some point.
Wood, who exercised his player option late last month, will make $3,036,040 this season, while Reddish, who also picked up his option, will earn $2,463,946. Neither player will be the centerpiece of any trade, but if D'Angelo Russell (who is the Lakers' third-highest-paid player at $18.7 million) were to be traded, for example, Wood and Reddish's combined $5,499,986 could help facilitate the deal.
There is also the possibility, as Buha mentioned, that the Lakers attach a second-round pick to contracts like Reddish's or Wood's and trade them for essentially nothing in return to free up a little more cap space and use the taxpayer midlevel exception without breaching the second apron.
However it ends up, the Lakers' top priority for the time being is retaining the relative flexibility that being under the second apron provides.
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