What Luol Deng does during Lakers games?

Can you imagine being paid 18 million dollars for just 13 minutes of moving up and down a basketball court? Well, NBA vet Luol Deng is pretty much living that life as a Los Angeles Laker. So far, this season, he has put up only two points in total while playing just thirteen minutes.

What a way to show a player he is not wanted nor needed on a team! But Deng appears to have the heaviest anchor attached to him – his horrendous contract. It’s gotten to the point both the team and the player are hostages of the situation.

It all started in the final years of Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak duo at top of the Lakers organization. First was the signing of Kobe Bryant to a contract given to a player who can be league MVP.

This was easily assimilated by fans since Kobe is a legend but deep down the whole basketball world knew that was a bad move. Just after that, the Lakers lost both Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol in free agency while Steve Nash retired due to injuries. At that point, a decline was imminent to a franchise accustomed to winning.

During the final years in charge Buss did to introduce a new way of thinking and game approach. It was an awkward merge between an average tanking strategy and a weird version of Philadelphia’s “Process”. Under coach Byron Scott the Lakers were very bad but not bad enough for the number one draft pick. Instead, they got two number twos and a seventh.

It’s fair to say they drafted good prospects as D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Brandon Ingram are aspiring young players. But here is the part the Lakers ‘shot themselves in the foot’. By trying to attract veteran players Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak signed both Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng to 16 and 18 million per year all the way to the season of 2019-2020. In short translation that is 32 million of dead money all the way to 2020.

When Magic Johnson became president of basketball operations and Rob Pelinka got the GM’s job the Buss approach was quickly thrown away. The new mindset was more like “we should be winning as soon as we can” rather than the old “Let’s take the long road and rebuild” path. Johnson did not waste any time and immediately started duping the bad contracts. He got rid of Mozgov but had to part ways with D’Angelo Russell seen by many as part of “purple and gold” future.

He moved Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. in exchange for Isiah Thomas, Channing Frye, and a 1st round pick. However, even the great Magic Johnson could not throw away Deng’s anchor contract off the board. He just lost all his options to make that crucial salary dump. Instead, he dealt Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr to Cleveland thus saving the Lakers at least seven or eight million of their cap space for the next season.

So here we have Luol Deng stuck in a limbo created by the sudden change of the Lakers’ front office. It may appear that his situation has no evident solution.

A buyout hasn’t been reached yet for two main reasons – the Lakers can’t afford to pay 36.8 million or anything close while aiming at marquee free agents.

And reason number two – a buyout will probably be the last time we hear of Luol Deng as his relevance will hit rock bottom. Not that he is any relevant today.

As already mentioned he hasn’t been in Luke Walton’s plans this year. As a matter of fact, his weird situation made him look like a star when he returned to Chicago. Not that he got cheered on by the crowd or anything. But he attracted the attention of the media. In front of multiple cameras and microphones, Deng spoke on his status with the Lakers. He shared that even though he is out of the team’s rotation he’s always present at their practice and pregame warmups. Deng stated that he’s trying to help the young players as much as possible while being available for couch Walton at any given time. Apparently, he’s even traveling with the Lakers despite being ignored over and over again.

By being so outspoken and realistic Luol Deng has shown that he understands his situation. But is there any feasible way if dealing with it? Apparently, there is an intriguing loophole in the CBA that can fix this problem. And it involves Deng resigning with the Lakers as crazy it may sound.

It was initially suggested by Eric Pincus – lead Lakers writer for Bleacher Report and co-host of Hollywood Hoops on ABPN Radio. His theory suggests that the LA Lakers should use a stretch provision in the CBA that allows a player to be paid his guaranteed money over an extended period. This period is calculated by doubling the length of the remaining deal and adding one year.

So essentially in Deng’s situation, it would be the two years left on his contract plus another three years. The 36.8 million that he’s owned will then be divided by five meaning that the Lakers will be paying him 7.3 million per year.

But here is the catch. The Lakers can further push this stretch provision by resigning Deng. Pincus explores a case in which the small-forward resigns with the “Purple and Gold” for three more years with three or four million dollars guaranteed.

This will leave the Lakers with an option to pay Deng in a span of 11 years as his extended contract will have five years instead of two (remember the formula – double the contract years and add one).

In order to entice him to ink such an extension Magic Johnson may have to push the total number from 36.8 to 40 million dollars. Now divide it by eleven and you get 3.6mill per year. Mind that in such scenario the organization doesn’t have to pay another team four or five million and draft picks for a salary dump. Nor does it have to trade any players. As a matter of fact, Deng can be waived immediately after he signs.

Under the CBA rules, he won’t be having any restrictions to sign a new contract with another team. Hence his relations with the Lakers will be strictly financial.

To sum it up, this form of contract payment is a like a bank credit – when you clearly can’t pay it all now you take some time and pay it off with interest.

This scenario is an interesting possibility. However, it does have its weak spots. First of all, it blocks three or four percent of the salary cap for a decade. Not that it will bother the organization but it could be that small bit that will one day put them in the luxury tax. What’s more troublesome is that this move may be the first and last one of its kind. The Lakers and Deng may be satisfied with the deal but the NBPA may not. It’s highly possible that the Player’s Association will demand more guaranteed money in such cases or fewer years to pay off.

How will the NBA officials and the media react will also have its negative influence which may turn it into a less attractive option to move bad contracts. The last thing the Lakers want is another fine – Johnson already got two on his resume for ‘tampering’ with Paul George and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

In all fairness, this way of paying Deng is the best solution for the organization. It will free a roster spot and will open around 15 million in the salary cap for the next two years. Have in mind the free agency market in 2018 and 2019 is something the Lakers are actively pursuing. At that point, you can’t afford the burden that Deng’s contract is.

Some may say that reaching a buyout in the ball part of 20-25 million is reasonable. While a number like that would be a league record the fact that both sides haven’t reached an agreement speaks volumes.

One thing the LA Lakers are not doing right is not giving Deng any playtime. His situation is well known and by staying off the court the small-forward has become unmovable as you can imagine. It seems like the stretch payment is the key to this mess.

“They made it clear, obviously, that I'm not wanted here,” Deng said. “So for me, I just got to focus on what I can control.” Where and when have we heard that last phrase before? One thing is for certain – things are changing in Los Angeles!