The Lakers aren’t just a first-round exit, but they are one of the eight teams over the salary cap. They are set to be $11.2 million over the tax, which would force the Lakers to pay an excessive amount in penalties. The team is due to pay about a $30.3 million penalty due to the repeater tax.
Assuming Russell opts out, the Lakers could try to upgrade at the point guard position. If the Lakers wanted to stay within the first apron in a trade, they would need to match the first apron salary and stay within 125 percent of the incoming salary.
For example, let’s look at both the Hawks’ Trae Young and Dejounte Murray. Since Young makes about $43 million and Murray makes $25.5 million, the Lakers would need to send out at least $34.4 and $20.4 million in salary respectively for each of them. For the Lakers to facilitate that, they would need to let go of a combination of Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, or Austin Reaves.
It would not make sense for the Lakers to get into the second apron ($17.5 million over the luxury tax threshold) as it would freeze up the team’s ability to use their mid-level exception, sign buyout players, or even take on more salary in any trades. The team can ill-afford to lose any flexibility around their aging stars. With what we saw between Anthony Davis and James, the Lakers need a strong supporting cast if they want to contend in the rugged West.