HeatCheck
Well-Known Member
Agreed.Rob Pelinka is incompetent, so he probably doesn't quite realize it yet... but his best bet to add a star or a FA is actually not to open up the 30M in cap space by letting Russ' deal expire, but rather to have optionality and expiring money to pair with their draft picks. If they think they can sign someone with 30M then trade for a star... well are you trading Lebron, AD, or the FA you just signed... cuz that's the only salary on the books.
Having Mike, Malik's option might help them make the Kyrie deal work. Rob really gonna throw away a year of Lebron and AD to maybe sign a sub max tier FA and keep a couple picks in 5-7 years.
Lakers won't have enough capspace to sign a max guy like Irving next summer considering the super max contracts for Lebron/AD and all the min capholds for the remaining roster spots.
They could use the expiring contracts of Beasley/Conley + pick to land Kyrie in a sign and trade though. That thought probably hasn't even dawned on Pelinka yet.