World Champions Lakers 2020-2021 Thread

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Lots of comings and goings in this shortened offseason:

Traded Away

Danny Green
Javele McGee

Left Via Free Agency

Playoff Rondo
Dwight Howard
Avery Bradley

Waived

Quinton Cook

Free Agent Signings

Marc Gasol (2 yrs)
Montrezl Harrell (2 yrs)
Wesley Matthews (1 yr)

Acquired Via Trade

Dennis Schroder
Alfonzo McKinnie
Jordan Bell (will waive)

Re-Signed

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (3 yrs)
Markieff Morris (1 yr)

Still Under Contract

LeBron
Kyle Kuzma
Alex Caruso
Talen Horton-Tucker


This leaves Anthony Davis to be re-signed (he will) and perhaps Jared Dudley.


Depth Chart

PG: Schroder, Caruso
SG: KCP, Matthews, Horton-Tucker
SF: LeBron, Kuzma, McKinnie, Dudley [?]
PF: Davis, Morris
C: Gasol, Harrell

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LeBron James signed a two-year extension today, putting him under contract through 2023. He says he wants to retire a Laker.

As was expected, Jared Dudley signed a one-year contract, for which he will get paid $2.6 million for waiving a towel on the sidelines. Hell of a gig if you can get it.

Expect an AD re-signing to be announced shortly. That will bring the roster to 13 players. The Lakers are hard capped and only have room to add one more player right now. The 15th spot will likely become available near the trade deadline when some vets are traditionally released and sign pro-rated contracts with playoff teams.

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And just like that, it's being reported that Anthony Davis has agreed to a 5-year, $190 million extension with the Lakers. He has an opt-out after the 4th year. So the LeBron-AD duo will be in place for at least the next 3 seasons.

As players return to training camp, the first round of COVID tests found 48 players positive, nearly 10% of those tested.

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Lakers filled out their roster yesterday by re-signing Quinn Cook. They had waived him at the beginning of free agency and brought him back for a little less, which resulting in preserving about $400,000 in extra space against the hard cap. So the roster is set at least for now.

With Pelinka and Co. putting an elite roster in place for the foreseeable future, we also had a better sense of the future draft picks the Lakers will have to give to New Orleans as part of the Anthony Davis trade. The Lakers' 2021 first round pick only transfers if it is in the top 7. That won't happen, so LA will keep its pick next year and the Pelicans will get the Lakers' 2022 pick. The Pelicans will also get the Lakers' 2024 first round pick, although at their option they can defer and get the Lakers' 2025 first round pick instead. The trade also provides the Pelicans with the right to swap first round picks with the Lakers in 2023, but the Pelicans would have to end up with a better record than the Lakers to do so.

The Lakers' moves of extending LeBron and AD take them out of the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes. There was speculation that AD would sign a 1+1 deal, LeBron wouldn't extend and then they would both opt out next offseason in an effort to clear cap space for Giannis to sign as a free agent, with LeBron and AD taking less than the max. That was always a pipe dream, and now the only way to get him would be via trade. There is no combination of players the Lakers have that would interest the Bucks, or work under the cap, plus the Lakers lack the draft picks needed for such a trade.

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Although the roster has not fully jelled yet, the Lakers currently have the best record in the NBA.

The Dennis Schroder trade may go down as one of the more lopsided trades in recent history. OKC traded Danny Green away already and he was only included in the Schroder trade as a needed cap dump for the Lakers. So it was basically a late first rounder for Schroder.

He has started every game and is averaging 14 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal a game, while shooting 38% from the 3.