The Los Angeles Lakers might still be a contender next season because of the raw talent of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but it would be in spite of their GM.
The Los Angeles Lakers recently traded the farm in order to get Anthony Davis, but they didn’t leave enough cap room in the stable for any more thoroughbreds.
They apparently made the trade for Davis before confirming that the New Orleans Pelicans would wait until the end of July to officially sign the deal. This is according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
They are now scrambling for cap room to have enough money to sign a third superstar in free agency. Basically, the Lakers can’t sign anyone to a maximum contract on July 6 if that’s when the trade goes down, but they can if the Pelicans allow it to happen at the end of July.
But why should New Orleans let a Western Conference rival benefit from their own incompetence? Los Angeles made the trade with no clue about the cap ramifications, and then called the Pelicans to try and change the arrangement.
Sorry Lakers. You can’t fix stupid.
They could have had $32.5 million in cap space. That would’ve been more than enough money to ink a player like Kemba Walker, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, or Klay Thompson.
Instead, unless the Pelicans relent, Los Angeles will only have $23.7 million
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka got what he wanted. He got Davis teamed up with LeBron, but now Pelinka has to fill out this team with quality players. Does his performance last summer give you any faith that he has the skills or intelligence to make that happen?
It shouldn’t.
Never forget that this is the guy who put Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley, and Rajon Rondo in the same locker room together, and we all saw how that worked out. LeBron missed the playoffs after going to the NBA Finals for eight years straight. Mission definitely not accomplished Rob. This is also the GM who drove Lakers legend and President of basketball operations Magic Johnson to such frustration that he quit his job in one of the most unprofessional ways we have ever seen.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Lakers are shopping Mo Wagner, Isaac Bonga, and Jemerrio Jones to create more cap room. Good luck with the leverage there. Kyle Kuzma, LeBron James, and Davis are the only untouchables.