The Lakers gained some much-needed flexibility under the second apron with their acquisition of Dorian Finney-Smith from the Nets for D’Angelo Russell on Sunday.
One day after their short-handed win over the Sacramento Kings, the Lakers brought in some much-needed reinforcements.
On Sunday, they traded D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton.
Not only does Finney-Smith address a major need for the Lakers on the court, but this deal also gives them some financial relief ahead of the NBA’s Feb. 6 trade deadline.
Prior to this trade, the Lakers were roughly $30,000 below the second apron. They weren’t hard-capped, so they were allowed to exceed the second apron this season, but doing so would have prohibited them from aggregating two or more salaries in a trade for a bigger contract.
The Lakers did trade two contracts in the Finney-Smith deal, although they aren’t necessarily hard-capped as a result. Finney Smith ($14.9 million) and Milton ($2.9 million) are combining to earn less than Russell ($18.7 million) this season. The Lakers could have structured this as two separate transactions, with the Nets taking Lewis into the minimum exception and then acquiring Russell for Finney-Smith and Milton. The Lakers had to include a second contract in this trade since they already had 15 guaranteed deals on their books.
Provided that the Lakers didn’t hard-cap themselves with this deal, they gave themselves more flexibility under the second apron to utilize between now and the trade deadline. They’re now roughly $3.5 million below the second apron, and they shaved roughly $15 million off their luxury-tax bill as well, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. (The Buss family can afford another new mansion now, hooray!)
Since the Lakers are still well over the first apron — roughly $7.3 million — they can’t take back more salary they send out in any ensuing trades. That means they’re still highly unlikely to cross the second apron this season. However, there is a meaningful difference between having $30,000 in flexibility below the second apron and $3.5 million.
If the Lakers do hard-cap themselves at some point between now and the trade deadline, they won’t be allowed to cross the second apron under any circumstance. With only $30,000 in wiggle room, the Lakers couldn’t have filled an open roster spot if they were hard-capped and swung a 2-for-1 deal. Now that they’re $3.5 million below the second apron, they have enough flexibility to sign free agents to rest-of-season contracts if they trade more players than they take back.
The Lakers won’t be able to aggregate Finney-Smith’s contract with anyone else’s between now and the trade deadline, which does deprive them of some trade flexibility. Combining Russell with Rui Hachimura ($17.0 million) and Gabe Vincent ($11. Million) or Jarred Vanderbilt ($10.7 million) could have gotten them in the ballpark of a max salary if they hoped to trade for Jimmy Butler or another star. They’d now have to swing a 4-for-1 with Hachimura, Vincent, Vanderbilt and Austin Reaves ($13.0 million) to get into that salary range, which seems highly unlikely.
Rather than pursue a third max star, the Lakers figure to continue combing the market for complementary players such as Finney-Smith. With Reaves in the midst of a career year, perhaps the Lakers have concluded that the two-stars-and-depth model — or 2.5 stars-and-depth, depending on how you feel about Reaves — is a more viable strategy for them than hastily assembling a Big Three.
While this trade does likely close the third-star door for the Lakers ahead of the trade deadline, the flexibility it gives them below the second apron — and the on-court boost that Finney-Smith should provide — is well worth that sacrifice.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Salary Swish and salary-cap information via RealGM.
