The stroke of genius by the Los Angeles Lakers and Rob Pelinka to get Anthony Davis yesterday is losing a little bit of its shine the morning after news of the trade broke.
Aside from the collection of pick-swaps that the Lakers owe New Orleans over the next seven seasons, the all important timing of the trade will cost them cap space in their quest to build a championship team around Davis and LeBron James.
During a Sunday morning appearance on SportsCenter, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the trade for Davis will be completed on July 6. This is crucial because rather than it being completed on July 30, the July 6 date will lower the Lakers potential cap space from $32.5 million to $23.5 million.
This now puts a significant focus on Anthony Davis and his trade bonus worth about $4 million, as detailed below by Yahoo’s Keith Smith.
Davis having to waive $4 million is a tough position for he and Rich Paul to take, so this is going to take some massaging on the part of the Lakers. Should Davis waive the trade bonus, they would be closer to giving a max contract to a veteran player such as Kemba Walker or Kyrie Irving. But the timing of the trade would cost them any shot at Kevin Durant.
So the Pelicans and Lakers both have reasons for wanting to execute the trade when they want. But given that the Pelicans were in a power position, knowing that the Lakers were desperate to get Davis by any means, it makes sense that they would be able to determine when the trade gets processed.
It also wouldn’t make a lot of sense on their end to execute the trade before Summer League so that the No. 4 pick gets extra time to play with likely No. 1 pick Zion Williamson. And since the Pelicans are under no obligation to help the Lakers, it seems unlikely the trade’s timing veers off course.
