Dwight Howard will embark on his free-agency tour. There is a distinct possibility he will not be back with the Los Angeles Lakers. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Houston Rockets have emerged as the front-runners to acquire the big man.
Hence, we will operate under the idea that Howard is gone.
This leaves the Purple and Gold with a core of Steve Nash, Pau Gasol and Bryant. The trio is surrounded by a group of underwhelming role players that should land the Lakers in luxury tax territory going into the 2013-14 season.
According to Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ, teams cannot receive a player in a sign-and-trade transaction if their team salary is $4 million over the tax level at the conclusion of the trade. This means that any sign-and-trade involving the Lakers must bring back a substantially lower salary than the one leaving Los Angeles.
Granted, Mitch Kupchak could use the amnesty provision on one of the bigger salaries on the team and get below the apron. But we will continue with the roster as currently constructed when discussing potential free agents.
This means the Lakers have the taxpayer mid-level (also referred to as the mini-mid-level) at their disposal. It’s worth $3.183 million and can be split to sign multiple players. The deals cannot be more than three years in length. And one last disclaimer: The Lakers lose the ability to use this exception if they acquire a player via sign-and-trade.
Now that we’ve gotten the finances out of way, it’s time to discuss prospective free agents.
Given Bryant’s age, it’s probably fair to assume he will play two or three more seasons. Hence, any potential new player must be...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
