We're facing a huge luxury tax next season.
Keeping these Lakers together won't be cheap
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EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Why the Los Angeles Lakers could be staring at a $100 million luxury tax bill next season
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Tensions rise between Curry and Schroder after foul (0:59)
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Brian WindhorstESPN Senior Writer
A championship team is usually an expensive one. In 2019, the
Toronto Raptors paid $25 million in luxury tax. In 2018, the
Golden State Warriors paid $32 million. When the
Cleveland Cavaliers won it all in 2016, their bill was $54 million.
But the
Los Angeles Lakers achieved a somewhat rare feat last season: They won the NBA title
without paying the luxury tax.
And that's good, because trying to turn pairing
LeBron James and
Anthony Davis into some measure of a dynasty could get
very expensive. How expensive? L.A.'s payroll and luxury tax bill could exceed a quarter of a billion dollars -- just for next season.
Free-agent-to-be
Dennis Schroder became eligible to sign a contract extension on Feb. 16. And given how impactful a player he has been by easing the burden on James in the backcourt, the Lakers are incentivized to retain Schroder -- a guard they can't replace via free agency.
Schroder turned down a preseason offer from the Lakers, with the two sides expected to discuss again now,
sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski in December. But as they enter into those talks, the Lakers have to keep an eye on the books, because the numbers could eventually force some difficult decisions.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope -- plus the signing of
Montrezl Harrell -- pushed the Lakers into the luxury tax for this season and for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign. Next year will see extensions signed by James and
Kyle Kuzma hit their cap sheet.
Meanwhile, the bulk of the team's role players -- Harrell,
Alex Caruso,
Markieff Morris,
Talen Horton-Tucker and
Wesley Matthews -- can be free agents. The Lakers also still owe Luol Deng $5 million for next season, the last year of a waive-and-stretch decision made back in 2018.
The 2021 free-agent market has been stripped of many of the biggest names, as
Giannis Antetokounmpo,
Paul George,
Rudy Gobert and James elected to sign extensions to stay with their current teams. But there still could be 10 teams with $20 million or more in cap space and another handful with more than $10 million.
That means the Lakers could have competition to keep their role players. As an athletic guard who can defend, unrestricted free agent Caruso will have suitors. League executives think he could draw interest at the full midlevel exception range, which is $9.5 million next season. (Caruso currently earns $2.7 million.)
Horton-Tucker is another player who could have an intriguing free agency next summer. He is averaging just 6.7 points and 2.5 assists, but teams are watching him with interest.
Jeremy Lin and
Tyler Johnson have been included in such deals in the past.
In this case, a team that wants to maximize pressure on the Lakers could offer Horton-Tucker a deal in the range of four years and $60 million -- with the last two years coming in at $19.7 million and $20.7 million, respectively.
Then there's Harrell, who can opt out of his deal and be paid as much as $11.5 million by the Lakers if they opt to re-sign him. With
Marc Gasol on the tail end of his career and few ways of replacing Harrell's production in free agency, keeping Harrell also could be a priority.
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Which brings back the decision sitting on Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka's desk at the moment: what to do with Schroder.
Last offseason, starter-quality combo guards such as Schroder did well in free agency.
Bogdan Bogdanovic landed a four-year, $72 million deal from the
Atlanta Hawks.
Fred VanVleet got four years and $85 million from the Raptors. Two years ago, the
San Antonio Spurs gave
Dejounte Murray a four-year deal worth $64 million guaranteed, which might be the low end of a Schroder negotiation.
Keeping Caruso, Horton-Tucker, Schroder and Harrell at their potential market values could push the Lakers' payroll to $150 million. (Gasol's $2.7 million salary is already guaranteed.) That's without filling out the roster with other veterans or retaining Morris or Matthews.
Once that is done, even with just minimum salaries, the Lakers could be looking at a base payroll of around $170 million to keep the team intact. Add in more than $100 million in luxury taxes and their commitments for next season would land between $250 million and $270 million.
The Lakers are a deep-pocketed organization. They have the largest local television deal in the league, which pays in the range of $200 million annually. Spending hasn't been an issue in the past. Since the luxury tax began in the 2002-03 season, the Buss family has green-lighted more than $120 million in total for exceeding the salary-cap apron.
These numbers, though, are a new threshold that also will come off two years of losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.
No one should feel bad; the Lakers are one of the richest and most valuable franchises in the world. Their two future Hall of Famers are locked into deals.
But as the Lakers enter into a period when they have to make contractual decisions on the bulk of their team, there could be a tough decision or two at hand.
ESPN Front Office Insider Bobby Marks contributed to this story.
Copyright: © ESPN Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
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" is starting to get a bit overstated in here. Lakers have the Number 1 defense in the league. Closing time in the playoffs AD will be at the 5 with Bron and Trez/Keiff on the court. Last year Dwight and McGee combined for 24mpg in the playoffs and were out for numerous games due to matchups. None of the real contending teams are paint scoring machines. You need people that can slow down wings and point guards. Only way you should make a serious move for a 5 is if you dont think AD is coming back this season, or wont be himself. Otherwise, just grab someone off the scrap heap that can play 8-10 minutes.
because it automatically makes you say his coli nickname to yourself
