When the offseason is over the Lakers will likely have around $90 million in payroll.
They have interesting dillemas. They have a huge payroll, and they are aging and contracts coming due at close time frames.
http://hoopshype.com/salaries/la_lakers.htm
Bynum's contract comes up first. At 16.4 million this season, his next contract will obviously be huge.
They have Gasol and Kobe's contract up after 13-14 seasons. I can see why they want to get rid of Gasol. Letting him leave doesn't drop you below the cap. Signing him long term presents a big problem. No one is going to take on a re-signed Gasol's contract and give something up in return.
At three years, Nash will also be the only person on their team of note to be signed that third year.
Kobe is in decline. I've noticed the past couple of years he just isn't the same. I'm sure in two years that decrease is going to be even more noticeable. I think of anyone, he gets the pass to stay over all others (though not past a point). But again, Kobe makes bank, he's going to want some big money, and I don't see how anyone takes on that contract either. Either way as long as Kobe is on the Lakers (barring a major decrease in his salary) going forward he becomes more and more of a drain every season.
Nash won't be traded. He'll retire a Laker, unless he somehow wins a title, ends his contract and wants to play more. I just don't see it. Never say never though.
All told the Lakers have players that if they don't trade in the next year, they won't be tradeable. Seeing how they just went all in with Nash, unless a Bynum and Gasol trade for Howard materializes, they are locked into what they are doing.
Even then Howard is a injury concern too, but for now we'll assume he's still younger and a better option than anything else they could possibly have for the future.
We own their next two tradeable 1st round picks. So unless they do a draft day (after the pick is made) deal, they can't trade away any more 1st round draft picks until the 2017 pick becomes a realistic trading piece.
I really see the Lakers having a good shot the next 2-3 seasons, and then headed for a huge, fast decline.
Their players just aren't tradeable. They're over the cap. They have no picks to trade outright, and only with very limited applicable trading value with which remains.
That 2015 pick looks really good imo. 2016 probably a better bet. But 2015 still might be a lottery pick. Yeah anything can happen between now and then, but from here, the Lakers future looks pretty grim.
Just remember guys, when this happens, we can smile and realize we helped make THAT happen. We gave them TOO MANY old, retiring, expensive players at once to replace without major dropoff and troubles.
We stole their future, not just with draft picks, but creating one helluva situation where they are going to have either no cap space and old or waaayy too much space to get anything that matters. Sure they might get one guy. But even if they sign every free agent imaginable in one off season it's hard to become relevant from scratch in one off season. The Heat situation is very rare, as most FA classes just aren't like that, AND they had Wade already.
So we created a helluva lump in their process and took their future draft picks. It's an imbalance that's going to be hard to overcome with no/few assets.
