Is there an alternative universe in which the Los Angeles Lakers added DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso and Buddy Hield during the offseason?
After the Chicago Bulls defeated the Lakers in convincing fashion on Monday, the basketball world has put a close eye on DeRozan. Just yesterday, in fact, we wrote about the validity of his candidacy for MVP so far this season.
The 32-year-old played college basketball at USC and he has spoken about how he modeled his game after Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. Many are left wondering if there was any chance DeRozan — instead of Russell Westbrook — could have been the big fish that the Los Angeles front office landed during the offseason.
While it was not widely reported he wanted to play for the Purple and Gold, DeRozan confirmed as much to league insider Chris Haynes (via Yahoo):
“I felt like going to the Lakers was a done deal and that we were going to figure it out. I was going to come home. The business side of things just didn’t work out. A couple of things didn’t align. It didn’t work out. It’s just part of the business, part of the game.”
Of course, instead, the Lakers brass opted to send Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell in a trade to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Westbrook.
Considering that Los Angeles is playing poorly to start the season, it is easy and fun for fans to fantasize about another world in which Lakers executive Rob Pelinka had pursued DeRozan instead.
This becomes the third what-if scenario currently clouding the season for Los Angeles. The other two involve Hield — whose agent was Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka before the executive took the job in the front office — and Caruso.
Looking back, the same night the Lakers traded for Westbrook, there were also reports that Los Angeles was about to “move toward” a deal for Hield in exchange for Kuzma and Harrell. We have also heard about how the Lakers botched negotiations for Alex Caruso, who like DeRozan, also ended up on the Bulls.
Hield and Caruso are both significantly better shooters than Westbrook, which means they would have spaced the floor for James very well.
But while people are tweeting fantasies out a fictional title parade, is there any chance that Los Angeles could have somehow actually added DeRozan while trading for Hield and also retaining Caruso’s services?
During the offseason, DeRozan told Shannon Sharpe that he would “love to” play for his hometown. It made some speculate that perhaps he would have taken a massive discount to play for his hometown organization.
According to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, in fact, DeRozan would have been willing to sign for the Lakers “even if it is for less” than the $27 million he made in San Antonio.
DeRozan — who had made nearly $200 million in his career to date but hadn’t yet earned a championship trophy — alluded to such a desire during a podcast appearance:
“At this point, you’ve gotta weigh out the opportunity to win a championship kind of more. Especially with the career I’ve had. I’ve been fortunate enough to make good money, but the ultimate goal is always to compete for a championship.”
Some even thought that DeRozan would have been willing to accept the mid-level exception. For the Lakers, that would have been worth $9.5 million.
It seems highly unlikely that DeRozan would have accepted such a low figure. But for the Lakers, like they did when they signed Karl Malone and Gary Payton in the 2003 offseason, there is always an outside shot.
What would have happened, though, if DeRozan wanted more than the mid-level exception?
Let’s say the original deal for Hield had gone through instead of the trade for Westbrook. That means Harrell would have opted in for his player option and then he and Kuzma would have gone to Sacramento.
That means Los Angeles would have held on to their assets of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the No. 22 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft. Both assets were included in the deal for Westbrook but not in the proposed agreement with the Kings.
In reality, Chicago sent San Antonio a package centered around Thaddeus Young, Al Farouq-Aminu, a first-round pick and two future second-round picks in a sign-and-trade.
If that wasn’t enough to move the needle for the Spurs, Los Angeles only could have offered the aforementioned mid-level exception. But let’s say, for argument, that Caldwell-Pope and the first-round draft pick (as well as Marc Gasol for salary-matching purposes) would have been enough for the talks to continue between the two parties.
If the Lakers then waived Alfonzo McKinnie, their payroll would have been at around $99.9 million just for James, Davis and Hield before negotiating with DeRozan (and later Caruso).
Based on the collective bargaining agreement, the Laker could have only taken back as much as Caldwell-Pope and Gasol earned, plus an additional $5 million, in a sign-and-trade for DeRozan. That means they could have offered a maximum of $20.6 million to DeRozan.
That would put the Lakers at $135.5 million for James, Davis, Hield and DeRozan while also filling out the remaining roster spots with minimum deals (leaving one non-minimum deal open for Caruso).
As per the collective bargaining agreement, they’d only be able to spend up to the apron of $143 million. That leaves an additional $7.4 million for Caruso before the hard cap kicks in.
So for this to work, the front office would have had to surrender the cap hold for Talen Horton-Tucker (getting nothing in return for him) and then they would also have to convince both DeRozan and Caruso to take discounted deals.
Is there any chance DeRozan would have said no to the $27.3 million average annual value he signed with Chicago for $20.6 million with Los Angeles? Meanwhile, would Caruso have skipped the chance for $9.2 million for $7.4 million on the Lakers?
If the answer to that question is yes, then Los Angeles would have still had to fill out their roster with nine players on minimum deals. Those players would have been presumably similar to their current personnel, except for Kenrick Nunn — unless he was willing to accept a minimum deal.
Additionally, from the following list, one would not have been offered a spot: Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Malik Monk, Rajon Rondo, Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington, Avery Bradley, Kent Bazemore, Austin Reaves and DeAndre Jordan.
Although the salary cap gymnastics can cause a migraine, such a solid core (LeBron, AD, DeRozan, Hield and Caruso) is still exciting to think about and wonder about what could have been.
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