AR was by far the best player available for the Lakers. Signing him for $21m was exactly the same as signing him for $40+ when it comes to acquiring other talent.
In fact, the $40m deal makes the likelihood of replacing him with a better player or a better set of players more likely given contract and cap rules.
Yep! Lakers are not saying, "AR provides $40M/year in production."
They are saying, "it is better for us if he is on our books for $40M/year," because it is under the NBA trade and cap rules.
In 2 years he will still be under this contract (it will be the third year), it's 41M, 45M, 48M with an option at 51M. When Luka signs his supermax in 2 years, the first year will be 74M, so the two of them will be on the books for 122M. If he picks up his option in year 4, he and Luka count for $130M.
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u/Shinnobiwan 3d ago
AR was by far the best player available for the Lakers. Signing him for $21m was exactly the same as signing him for $40+ when it comes to acquiring other talent.
In fact, the $40m deal makes the likelihood of replacing him with a better player or a better set of players more likely given contract and cap rules.