The Los Angeles Lakers tried to address their on-court issue by making a move that landed them Rui Hachimura via a trade with the Washington Wizards. And while they struck out of the Kyrie Irving sweepstakes, the Lakers might be cooking at least one move ahead of the trade deadline with the intention of clearing more space in the books in preparation for what could be a busy offseason.
The Lakers are also coming up and entertaining trade ideas in part because they are looking to avoid heftier repeater tax penalties (h/t Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register).
The rival executive also told SCNG that one of the franchise’s recurring themes in discussions of multiple possible deals is a desire to limit the hit on their repeater tax, which increases exponentially next year as they fill out a cast around James and Anthony Davis.”
The Lakers are way over the cap this season with a commitment of $169.364 million as against the salary cap of $123.655 million. Russell Westbrook's contract, which is paying him $47.063 million this season, is also a big hindrance in attracting interest from potential trade partners for the former league MVP. The Lakers have sound reason to move him ahead of the NBA trade deadline this coming Thursday, as they'd rather acquire helpful pieces than lose Westbrook in the offseason for nothing.
The Lakers have plenty of players on expiring contracts outside of Westbrook, including Hachimura himself, who could end up being on the high-priority list of the team in the offseason.
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