Los Angeles Lakers NBA Trade Rumors: Team Willing to Trade Jordan Clarkson to Free Up Cap Space
Luol Deng's name is going to get mentioned a lot in trade rumors in the coming months as the Los Angeles Lakers continue to plan ahead for the 2018 offseason.
The Lakers can sign two marquee free agents if Deng's contract is off the books and they let Brook Lopez, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Julius Randle leave as unrestricted free agents next summer. However, dumping Deng's salary is going to be costly since teams will ask them to include a prospect or pick as a sweetener in the deal.
Fortunately, they have a plan.
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According to Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus, the Lakers are confident they can unload Jordan Clarkson if they need to clear more space.
Well, Clarkson is a young player who's still years away from his prime, so the team shouldn't have any problems trading him.
The team can accommodate Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins if they move Clarkson, but they still have to get rid of Deng and free up more salary cap space if they want to go after either LeBron James or Russell Westbrook.
Without Clarkson on the roster, the Lakers are projected to have around $59.4 million next offseason, according to Pincus. If Clarkson, Deng and Randle are unloaded, they will have about $76.6 million.
Pincus also suggested that the Lakers may use the stretch provision on Deng instead of trading him so they don't have to give up any assets.
"The Lakers could instead look to stretch out the final two seasons on Deng's salary over a five-year period (at $7.4 million per season), which would put the team at about $69.2 million in space (without Clarkson and Randle)," Pincus stated.
The Lakers will have to give up a lot of players if they want to make major moves next summer. The good news is that they have a lot of options.
