After almost two months Kevin Durant has decided to return to the Brooklyn Nets, he has backed off his trade request and everything has been resolved in Brooklyn for this upcoming season, but still the Lakers are well positioned if they want to make a move in the 2023 off season.
If you didn’t know Kyrie Irving is an unrestricted free agent in the 2023 off-season and the Lakers could create over 30 million in cap space to offer Kyrie a deal in 2023 free agency, and in this off-season.
The Lakers were the only team really interested in trying to add Kyrie Irving, so as the Lakers continue to try and make moves this off-season, they could make moves to create flexibility next off-season, because if Taylor Horton Tucker and Damien Jones opt out the Lakers can have 31 and a half million in cap space in the 20 23 off season, and that’s even after the LeBron extension.
The Lakers are trying to make moves to improve their roster and one of the moves, they can make is signing Dennis Schroder is a former Los Angeles Lakers, but this time the Lakers could have a chance to sign him to a minimum contract which, I think could be an absolute steal, especially if the Lakers end up trading Russell Westbrook, they need a point guard Schroeder could fill that role for them well.
I think Schroeder was even asking LeBron about running it back in Late July through an Instagram comment, so it seems like its something, he could be interested in and something the Lakers are interested in so maybe that could happen especially, if the Lakers do end up making a move where they trade away Russell Westbrook, it was also reported today by sham Charania that the Los Angeles Lakers are interested in potentially trading for Patrick Beverley and Bojan Bogdanovic.
What’s interesting is both of those guys are on one year deals SO trading for those guys would give the Lakers flexibility let’s check out a trade scenario where the Lakers add in Kelly Oubre JR, Bojan bogdanovic, Patrick Beverley and Rudy Gay, and they trade away Russell Westbrook Taylor Horton Tucker a 20 25 second-round pick to 2023 second round picks a 2027 first-round pick and Russell Westbrook ends up joining the Utah Jazz.
he’s on an expiring deal, so they could either buy him out or you could play out the season in Utah on that expiring contract but for the Lakers this could be a good move because you get a bunch of guys on expiring deals, you maintain that flexibility now Rudy Gay is on a two-year deal but with his contract, I think that the Lakers could trade him in the 2023 off season.
If they needed to create cap space and in this scenario the Lakers would only be trading away one first-round pick I think it could also be a move that would help them compete in this upcoming season as well and let’s say things don’t work out and the Los Angeles less Lakers aren’t able to sign Kyrie Irving in the 2023 off season.