NBA free agency was once one of the more fun parts of the entire basketball season but with the new CBA, things have somewhat come to a standstill. The agreement still has some of the better players in the free-agent class sign early but it has caused teams to be more cautious when spending money. Many of the top players are off the board but there are still a few quality role players available.
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One of those is guard Gary Trent Jr., who spent this past season with the Toronto Raptors. Trent Jr. was scheduled to earn a nice contract on the open market but has seen his value drop since the season ended. He has a few teams interested in him, including the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the Lakers may not be able to land Trent Jr. despite all the interest in him. Jovan Buha and Shams Charania of The Athletic first mentioned their interest in Trent Jr. from Los Angeles.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the Lakers aren’t able to make a play for Trent Jr. due to salary issues. Los Angeles is very close to the second apron level and they have to shed salary if they want to make any additions to the roster.
“One source close to the process cautioned this week that the Lakers until they can move farther away from the second luxury tax apron, can’t even make a run at Trent … no matter how available he appears to be. The Lakers, remember, are only marginally distanced from the second apron after LeBron James signed a new two-year deal that was less than $3 million shy of the $104 million maximum he could have received.”
Los Angeles currently holds 15 players on the roster so they will first need to free up space as well. The team has been looking around to try to ditch some of its minimum contracts which would open up space. If Los Angeles is able to make a few moves, it could open enough money to free up the taxpayer midlevel exception for around $5.2 million. This would be enough to potentially land someone like Trent Jr. on the open market.
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Time is going against the Lakers because other teams are also interested in going after Trent Jr this summer. He would fit in well with what the Lakers want to do and would give them another shooter to space the floor. Last season, he averaged 13.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. Trent Jr. also averaged 1.1 steals a game and shot 39.3 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
The Lakers have needed a shooter like Trent Jr. for some time and he could vastly improve the overall depth of the team. New head coach JJ Redick is likely to implement a system of Los Angeles taking more 3-point shots so Trent Jr. would fit in nicely among the other players. But until Los Angeles clears both roster spots and more salary, Trent Jr. remains a pipedream. The team hasn’t shown the ability to make significant changes to the roster so far this offseason so only time will tell if something comes to fruition.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.