Many would say the Los Angeles Lakers have had a positive offseason, with the acquisitions of Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, and Jake LaRavia.
Now imagine if they went out and got a player who had the defense of Smart, the frame of LaRavia, and the potential of Ayton.
The opportunity is there, according to Fansided’s Bryan Toporek, and the Lake Show may try their chances.
“The Lakers are only $1.1 million under the first apron and are already hard-capped after splitting their non-taxpayer MLE on Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia,” Toporek said Friday.
“They do still have their bi-annual exception, but they'd have to dump at least $4 million in salary before they were able to spend it on (Kawhi) Leonard. Luckily, salary-dumping any of Jarred Vanderbilt ($11.6 million), Gabe Vincent ($11.5 million) and Maxi Kleber ($11.0 million) would more than do the trick.”
The players listed haven’t had a significant impact with the Lakers, which makes it easier to move any one of them.
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Jarred Vanderbilt seems to always be out with an injury, Gabe Vincent isn’t the Miami Heat version the Lakers were hoping for, and Maxi Kleber is an end-of-the-bench guy.
So, yes, that means if they are willing to take the chance and salary dump one of them, they could lure Kawhi Leonard in with their bi-annual exception.
Leonard is currently the subject of an investigation dealing with a $28 million contract finesse he may have planned with Steve Ballmer.
In order to duck the heat if all things blow over, he could stay put in Los Angeles but change teams for a fresh start.
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