Does Luol Deng Buyout Set Lakers Up To Land Kevin Durant Or Kawhi Leonard?

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The Los Angeles Lakers secured the biggest prize on the 2018 NBA free-agent market when they signed LeBron James to a four-year contract. Could they be setting themselves up to land the top prize of the 2019 free-agent class, too? The Lakers bought out veteran forward Luol Deng before the Aug. 31 deadline for the 2018-19 season, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. By using the “waive and stretch” provision, Los Angeles has created additional salary cap space going forward, as Woj notes the Lakers could have almost $40 million to spend next summer. That would be enough salary cap space to sign a superstar player to a max contract without having to trade any players already on the roster to create room.

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