NBA Trade Rumors 2018: LA Lakers Ditches Luol Deng Buyout Plan; Could It Delay the Signing of Two Star Players?
The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly "given up" in looking for ways to buy out Luol Deng's contract in order to free up their salary cap and make room for star player additions.
The basketball rumor mill is once again up and running, especially now that there are only a few weeks left before the next trade deadline arrives. And one of the most talked about possibilities is seeing LeBron James and Paul George together in one team, wearing the purple and gold uniform of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Back in 2017, reports had it that the Lakers' front office bosses had confirmed they were looking to free up enough space in their salary cap to make sure that they are able to sign major players in the summer when the free agency opens.
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According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, however, league sources say the Lakers' front office has now ditched its plans of buying out Deng's remaining contract and trading him to another team because the move would require them to give up too many draft slots.
The same report added that the team management and Deng last talked about the prospects of a contract buyout in November 2017 but that discussion obviously did not reach a conclusion.
Wojnarowski suggested that the Lakers could opt for the waive-and-stretch provision to accommodate more players sooner. This means that, technically, the Lakers would still buy out the remaining $37 million on Deng's contract, but the amount would be paid in smaller chunks in a longer span of years.
Another Laker who is reportedly highly likely to be traded so the front office gets that salary cap cleared in summer is Jordan Clarkson. Unlike Deng's case, the Lakers' management is reportedly positive it can shop for a trade for Clarkson.
While nothing has been finalized yet with Clarkson, fans cannot help but already speculate on where the young player could be traded to. The Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Philadelphia 76ers are some of the teams whose names have come up in the discussion.
However, any of these might not happen before the trade deadline on Feb. 8.
