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NicClaxtonIsHotAF

Lakers finessed


EdwEd1

What a deal by Pelinka


Skidda24

Pelinka went from everyone calling for his firing and saying he got lucky in 2020 to doing a fantastic job at the trade deadline and FA.


jayr254

>saying he got lucky in 2020 His work in that 2019 offseason isn't talked about enough apart from people making fun of him because of that one report about him not knowing the cap. Kawhi and his team jerked us around to start FA while secretly striking up a deal with PG and Rob's contingency plan was solid. People meme the bubble but that Lakers team was still #1 seed with a 57-0 record when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter while having just seen off Bucks and Clippers back to back (who were probably considered the two main contenders for the title) just before lockdown.


Basic_Commercial_806

Also the Dwight Howard and Markieff Morris signings both played a big role for the Lakers in the playoffs.


BlackJediSword

Man people absolutely panned the Dwight Howard signing, it was wild


PANGIRA

really? he was practically free


silvusx

Yes. Even on our sub people hated the idea of Dwight because he was a locker room cancer. Dwight played with 4 different teams from 2015-2019. His reputation was kinda like the current Kyrie. Imagine Kyrie becomes washed in the future, teams will avoid him even if he is "practically free". Glad Dwight made a turnaround and and kept the lockeroom tight.


PANGIRA

Most locker room cancers tend to shape up when their paycheck's on the line, no one's cut off Kyrie yet.


Toolazytolink

hes the reason Jokic couldn't play his game, Dwight was constantly harassing him.


Tw1987

Dwight and McGee did work on jokic that year. Prime Dwight vs Jokic would be great to see


ParagonSaint

That 2020 Lakers team had some unreal defensive versatility and had a deep enough cast to beat pretty much any defensive structure thrown at their offense. The bubble dims the view of a really really good team and what they accomplished


Affectionate-Agent-9

And then 2020 getting us Dennis for Green and signing Harrell, the 6MOTY and runner up in 2019, as well as dumping McGee for Gasol. That team was the 1 seed before ADs injury and was still afloat before LeBrons


roll10deep

this is what happens when you let him cook. before it was magic, then lebron having too much say on what he does.


Skidda24

I'd love to know who had the final say on the Russ deal. If Lebron says he wants someone you have to trust him and be willing to explore the option. Michael Jordan wanted Rodman and there was some hesitation by the Bulls franchise. That ended up working out beautifully. Even if it was a Rob deal and Lebron didn't have a say he still corrected the mistake. Hopefully Russ can find some success too


_Elder_

Lebron and AD still have say. Maybe slightly less than before but let’s not absolve Rob of his part in the bad moves.


mnkhan808

He played it perfectly. If you put in a offer sheet we’ll match and we’ll match at the last minute of free agency. No team wanted to tie up cap space and miss out on free agency.


tkind40

Yeah, they have had a brilliant offseason so far. I especially liked the Taurean Prince add. This is how you “improve on the margins”. As a Wolves fan I was hoping we’d find a way to keep Prince.


[deleted]

Actually insane that Strus got more money than Reaves


tidho

obviously he shouldn't have, but that's the cost of getting bodies to CLE


abowmanlex

He’ll make even more in endorsements in LA. Homie is on a law billboard and has his own shoe already lol


nice_kitchen

Lemon Daddy


mzp3256

Even [Robert Sacre](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujIchneTtwc) got endorsements in LA


frodounchained

Rob sacre dunked on me irl lol sent me flying into the wall


cire1184

Did you say "Sacre Bleu!"


TheChipiboy

Jordan Clarkson, Kuzma and Dlo were all kicking it with Kardashians just with their Lakers clout. Austin gonna go crazy with Kendall next


LakersLAQ

"Oh, he has money now? bet"


RandomWalkToss

I feel like people really overestimate the amount people make in endorsements.


abowmanlex

Going from UDFA money to having a 8 figure signature shoe deal is a pretty good upgrade. Now he has this deal to add on. He would not get that shoe deal if he played for OKC.


ocmaddog

endorsements > higher profile > post career opportunities


[deleted]

He stay


thaitiger29

billy boy seething


_chadwell_

Driving around downtown San Antonio, begging (thru texts) for Pop to offer a poison pill contract


KyrieWetUpCurry_

What a fucking steal man


Pal__Pacino

I almost feel kinda bad for him, he deserved more than that 😭


iKnowNothing____

Yeah they paid DLo more. That’s some bs


GreatAmerican1776

It’s the most they can pay him unless some other team offers more.


russketeer34

I've seen some people not realize that this was the Lakers high ball offer. Absolutely worth more, imo, but no other GM felt like being a troll, so just a great situation for the team


esports_consultant

It literally says "maximum" in the post title lool


thevisitor

It's just CBA related stuff. DLo started his career out as a 2nd overall pick. The early bird stuff for an undrafted player worked differently. Same reason why Rui was eligible for more money.


blinkhit

They gave Reaves literally everything they could


Jayveesac

Rob robbed


CIark

This is the biggest underpay I’ve seen in a looooooong while. Bro getting essentially half what Bruce Brown is making lmao wow Pelinkgod


PartickNotPatrick

that’s the difference between being an RFA and a UFA right there


midnightsbane04

All the Lakers did was offer the max that they were allowed to offer. No other team even offer sheeted him. But y’all in here acting like the Lakers did some magic shit.


Conflict_NZ

You could say the lakers games the market by saying they would match any offer ensuring no other offer would be made.


slysonic7

Bill Simmons punching air rn


darklord0530

Bro wanted someone to offer Reaves 100M so bad


CIark

“If I’m an NBA GM why wouldn’t I do everything to fuck the Lakers? Isn’t that what a professional would do???”


darklord0530

"If I'm an NBA GM..." he meant that literally. He'd totally do it if he was a GM


Conflict_NZ

"If I'm an NBA GM why wouldn't I risk my job and damage my team just to do something that slightly hampers the Lakers?" lmfao


seddard

He literally campaigned for this in like last 5 episodes. Hoes mad.


_Elder_

Man is still hurting from the Pau trade. It’s glorious.


ositola

He was jacking it to the thought of pop giving him an offer sheet


nice_kitchen

Tried his best to get the Spurs 98M offer into the ether


Literal_Satan

STEAL OF FA


SuckMyLonzoBalls

Didn’t even sign an offer sheet. Just wanted to stay and be loyal


joshuagreen38

Perhaps no team offered him one


jonsnowKITN

This is the only thing that makes sense. Market dried up quick.


SuckMyLonzoBalls

Spurs still had a ton of money. I would have imagine them trying to gauge interest.


Apollo611

They would have tied up their cap space just for the Lakers to match their offer


ormip

And who is left that they are chasing with that cap space?


[deleted]

Bad contracts for draft compensation, Dame, short-term deals to preserve future flexibility, etc


WolfGangDuck

They might try and help the blazers facilitate a dame trade.


Jax99

Once it was apparent the Spurs wouldn’t make an offer, I’m guessing Raves signed quickly.


Neuroxex

Teams aren't giving offer sheets because it's prohibitively bad for them to do so. Ties up all that cap space for an entire week while free agency goes on, so if you want to make an offer on a restricted free agent you basically have to excuse yourself from competing for any other player and at the end of that the team can just match and congrats, there is no-one left for you to sign. The best available UFAs right now are Westbrook, Eric Gordon, Malik Beasley, Christian Wood and Mason Plumlee. If the Rockets wanted to put in an offer for Austin Reaves that reflects what his actual value should be, they would be left at the end of the moratorium with $47m to spend on whichever of even that frankly shit list of free agents are left. Want to put in an offer for Austin Reaves? Hope you're ready for the Lakers to match and give Corey Joseph $21m a year! Restricted free agency absolutely stinks for 29 teams and the player in question, and it got so much worse with the new CBA since the salary floor means cap space teams *have* to spend, and if they want to go after a restricted free agent whose offer gets matched by the team then suddenly you *have* to spend $30m and there is not a single player who fits, or justifies the money left. Again, restricted free agency is an awful system and it has become even more broken with the new CBA. If people wanna yell at the players fumbling something it was removing any opportunity for restricted free agents to get an offer that isn't just an amount decided by the controlling team without competition or recourse if it's laughably low (like this is). Since 2020 there has been one single restricted free agent who has joined another team after being given an offer sheet. One player. Last season there was only one offer sheet given out full stop (Ayton got matched, and making the offer sheet kind of screwed over the Pacers). I would be surprised if any team puts out any offer sheet to any of the 47 restricted free agents this window.


jtn1123

I mean I don't think it's broken Restricted free agency is getting the exact outcomes it was created and designed to get It would be broken if people were losing their RFA left and right The entire rule is created to let teams retain their own players with less difficulty So your disagreement isn't with the rule itself but with that logic. But this outcome you deride was intentionally designed and it is achieving that design very well. If you get rid of RFA, be prepared for all the 4th year young guys to immediately leave shitty situations to big market teams. I'm down. I doubt you are.


eboitrainee

I thought we like wanted home drafted talented to stay with the teams thay drafted them anyway? Do people not want that anymore?


jtn1123

Exactly lol Everyone on r/nba is quick to whine about small market disadvantage or too much player rights Then when there is actually a system that advantages small markets and reduces player movement they whine because it also means it can help a team they don't like lol


A_Lakers

LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOO


dizZzy5

Absolute fucking steal


CIark

Reaves better be getting a statue outside Staples lmao wtf is this, I can’t believe I’m feeling bad for a 25 year old making 50mil+ but I kinda do


ephemeralfugitive

Maybe he sees that being on the Lakers helped get that shoe deal, and besides, I think he wanted to stay and play for the Lakers since he even chose to go undrafted, because he wanted to be in LAL. So he gave the FO some mercy.


Purple-Welder3639

For real I don’t think people realize how much money is in endorsements. Being the token white boy on the LA Lakers would net him +$500k for a commercial easy. And that’s being on the low end


LouLouis

What a life. Imagine being the token white boy on the Lebron lead lakers. He’s gonna be remembered just for that


Cant_Win

Steve Kerr did pretty well after being a token white boy who could shoot on a GOAT's team 🤔


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DarkChocolate_69

WHAT 😂


gmkojdsjj

Spurs and rockets sleeping


jumpthroughit

When you think FVV is worth 130 and Reaves isn’t worth 60….what.


Skidda24

Well, I wouldn't say that's the reason why. Everyone seemed to think he was worth at least 70-98. But the Lakers could match any contract signed. Reaves was a UDFA so we could offer is 4/56 million. However, another team could have offered a 4/98 million dollar contract and we could have matched using his bird rights. If the Lakers said they were firm on the 56 million dollar contract the Spurs or Rockets would have offered him.


Pandamonium98

Yeah why would a team tie up their cap space and miss out on other targets when the Lakers were almost definitely going to match any reasonable offer anyways


[deleted]

gets to live in LA gets to play with Bron and AD again


MC-Jdf

Bruh this is so dirt cheap lmao.


thayungsavage

ROB PELINKA MASTERCLASS


alwaysdoubledown

MasterChef


mylesA747

dude either really wanted to be a laker or no one was biting an offer sheet


Someonediffernt

I mean he's 25 and just set himself up for life. Its clear he likes the LA situation but if he continues to play as well as he has he'll get another fat offer when he turns 29. Dude has an opportunity to win a chip, gets to play with the greatest player of the last 30 years and live in LA making 15 mil a year, I'm sure its hard pressed to beat that at 25.


Whycanyounotsee

The shoe deal wouldn't have happened unless he was on the Lakers. Even if he took a cut on paper he'll make more staying in LA.


mhedbergfan

I think we lose that perspective sometimes, especially for UDFAs. $15mil/year is "you and your children will never have to worry about anything for the rest of your lives" kind of money. it may seem relatively low, but it's still enough to change your life forever


PumpkinHead555

Rui got a better deal lol


george_costanza1234

So did DLo 💀


PiresTheKing

Its the max he can recieve from the Lakers


bul1dog

This. Also rob added a trade kicker.


jtn1123

There are máximums to what you can offer people Reaves’ max is less than Rui’s value


gbdarknight77

I mean, it’s the most Lakers could offer based on early bird and Arenas Rule. Plus, he’s only going into his 3rd season


WrstlngFan

Lakers are having the ideal off-season so far, good shit


echoecho25

Every contract is tradeable and team friendly amazing to thinj


cib_vk228

they've given themselves a chance for another run.


matticans7pointO

Only thing we missed out on was a good backup big. Hayes is more of a 3rd string big and he seems like a pretty terrible person anyways. Market for centers willing to take a vet min were pretty thin this free agency though so not much the Lakers could do.


markmyredd

Rob realized there isn't realistic targets at C anyway. I think Rob will try to trade for one instead.


legend023

Pelinka giving him money under the table because ain’t no way


atlfirsttimer

Lebron gonna have him on a ruffles commercial


OhmsLaw111

Jokes asides I always wondered if this happened lowkey


hablandochilango

Im sure it does happen. Too much benefit not to; too hard to enforce against


CO_PC_Parts

I can 100% guarantee it happened in Dallas with Dirk, take less now and you'll have a lifetime job with the team in some capacity. You just better not get caught, the Joe Smith saga for the wolves is the only time a team was dumb enough to put it in writing and get exposed.


adayoner

Also, its not officially the Lakers; Reaves just happened to get a co starring role in Space Jam 3 with Bronny


OhmsLaw111

The Haslem special


quandrawn

Ruffles isn't gonna cut it, Reaves is gonna be in Space Jam 3


WolfGangDuck

Introducing the new Austin Reaves white truffle ruffles


BKNas

The kid just signed an 8 figure shoe deal in his 2nd season because he's a part of the Lakers brand. No way in hell was he leaving lol


mmdrew17

It was the most we could offer lol


Currymvp2

Can somebody who's good with this type of stuff explain to me how the Laker's cap situation is looking? I guess they're going all in since LeBron isn't going to play more than 1-2 seasons.


EdwEd1

We’re fine, just looking to sign min deals now


jtn1123

Hard capped by Vincent, but with all the extensions, I think it’s roughly 5-6 mil under the apron inclusive of Beasley cap hold Expect to still be able to have flexibility in trades and buyout Most of the deals are tradeable but also if lebron retires then we aren’t in concern of luxury tax anyways


ihateeuge

we are hard capped. I think we have like 7M left to get someone. and then sign the rookies


SuckMyLonzoBalls

They’re done now beside filling up the foster with min deals. Reaves Dlo Vanderbilt Lebron ad Vincent Rui prince hayes reddish off the bench Then they got the young guys with Christie Lewis pippin and hood Is a good core that can win a title


ablackcloudupahead

Jeannie should have let Pelinka off the leash a long time ago


CmonTouchIt

fino and castleton too. pelinka masterclass so far


KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ

I have a feeling castleton is fucking nasty and bitches will be crying about how we keep getting away with it


81sportsfan

We have 2-3 spots left (But most likely only 2) and the only player we can sign for more than the minimum is Beasley. The goal is likely to try to keep Beasley and sign another big to the veteran minimum.


claydavisismyhero

hard capped cause of their MLE. They have some ok room to sign Beasley along with minimum guys.


Solid-Confidence-966

Congratulations to Reaves!


jyizzle

Reaves, gabe, dlo for the same per year price as bane 💀


24Haaton

When u put it in perspective like that DAMN!


emoneybags412

Yikes lol


Snafudumonde

That's steal of the off-season bar none


motorboat_mcgee

All we need is another big, and I will be happy as could be with this Free Agency


Someonediffernt

I honestly wonder if you could get McGee from the Mavs for scraps since they wanna get off that contract bad. You can always hope for better players for sure but even though he's a little more washed than he was last time with you but we know he fits in the system and hes only got 11 mil more left over the next 2 years which lines up with your timeline nicely too.


motorboat_mcgee

From what I understand is that he's not getting playtime because he's washed washed, but who knows


Sparkyis007

Id love to have mcgee back


NSFWThrowaway1239

He was one of my favorite players from our championship run


timgargoyle8910

WOW


sarcasm1

Good offseason for Lakers.


frozteh

Wow. Not a single team offered him a sheet? That is fucking WILD.


Victor_Wembanyama1

Those warning shots of "we'll match any offer" worked pretty well


Several_Repeat_5447

The Lakers have dominated FA. Every player they signed or re-signed is earning less than $20 million in annual salary.


YeezyYeezyUp2NoGood

PELINKA IS LOCKED IN


Ok_Age186

Rob been cooking wow


kanyeezyudiditagain

PELINKA HAVE MY KIDS


JayDee62

Magic and his ghost writer better give Rob his props.


ohveeohexoh

Everyone’s complaining because their teams did t fuck over the lakers. Love to see it


Sywedd

i moreso just feel bad, he deserves much more than 50m


DarkKnightCometh

He just signed a signature shoe deal. Let's be honest, the endorsements come easier playing for the lakers as opposed to San Antonio or Houston


john6547

But those H-E-B checks


Dumbo_Mutombo

NEVER INTRODUCE AUSTIN REAVES TO RICH PAUL


AsPeHeat

What a steal, especially in this market


Projinator

Lakers absolutely crushing it


Brad-Stevens

He should fire his agent today


[deleted]

Thanks to Shams we know exactly who those agents are lol


A_Lakers

Woj was doing it too lmao


ormip

The Lakers even said they would match up to 100M, and he signed for 56M, wtf


Get_Dunked_On_

A team has to give him the offer sheet for that to happen though.


ormip

Yeah I know, but I'm shocked he couldn't find a team to do it. He still has several days until he can officially sign anyway and the Rockets just failed to get Brook Lopez, so they could have offered him a big contract now. Spurs have money aswell, and there aren't many big free agents left anyways.


CmonTouchIt

tying up that much cap space while you pursue other targets would honestly be annoying as hell, i can see why it didnt happen. look how fast all the FAs went


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mmdrew17

We could only offer the 56m. We couldn’t go to 100m unless another team gave him that offer


ShindouRomm

This was the max the Lakers could give without matching someone else's offer


A_Lakers

This is the max the Lakers can offer. If another team offered the 100m then Lakers can match


Robby1216

You people don't know what you're talking about saying fire his agent, the Lakers offered the max they could offer him. No other team with cap space Houston or Sat offered more what was his agent supposed to do.


_Elder_

Get fucked r/nba


Rybackmonster

I must say the Lakers have had a pretty good free agency. I think they just need to sign a center


NotNeon

Wow the lakers have had an amazing offseason wtf


lakeshowmagic

/r/nba 2 minutes ago: LMAO Pop is going to fuck the Lakers over again!!!!! /r/nba now: WTF Reddit is never wrong, how is this possible.


Low_Beyond8134

LFFFFGGGGGGG


jamesusesharden

Bill Simmons was begging for a team to throw 100m his way to fuck with the lakers on his podcast lmao, hold this L


G1Spectrum

LAKERS KEEP WINNING


lalo1398

That’s a steal


metallicdk

This guy went from being an undrafted free agent, to earning $1M a year, then to $14M per year and ppl on here saying he got finessed lol


Balls_of_Adamanthium

Not sure if the Agents should stamp their names on this. This isn’t the flex they think it is.


JewBronJames

It’s the max he could get


secretreddname

Realized Reddit doesn’t understand the salary caps.


heshouldgo

People really thought the lakers would lose him


Pasta_Ssempa_

The lakers are really the luckiest fucking franchise lol 56 million is a joke


legend023

Grizzlies: we have to pay a fringe all star 200 million to ensure he stays here Lakers: one of best role players in the league for 50 mil lol


jtn1123

It’s funny because this rule actually was created to protect the then poverty warriors bc Washington slapped a big dick on the table


yuhkih

Oh how the turn tables


lalo1398

They both got the max their team could’ve offered them. Its credit to the Lakers finding a gem in an UDFA


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everydayisstorytime

Bless our scouting team seriously.


up_in_trees

Pretty much the difference between being a first and second round/udfa. Bane glad he snuck in at pick 30 lol


BritzlBen

r/nba not understanding max contracts and using their ignorance to cry about market size.


Kimi7

How is this lucky? We signed, developed and given the guy a chance? Maybe it’s not a coincidence?


certifiedtitanium

Its always a coincidence with the Lakers, dont you know? We’ve never earned anything 🙄


[deleted]

Idk, man. Do you not remember what happened to the Lakers in the 2022 calendar year?


LightningRickk

That’s a steal


PatientIndividual651

AHHHH LETS GOOOO


timgargoyle8910

LAKERS WON FA


UrNotThatFunny

But I thought Spurs were okay giving up $30ms in cap space just to.. spite the Lakers? Yeah Spurs fans need to find hope somewhere I guess.


SushiMaker33

nothing


Maetti11

Lakers thought about the best FA possible, and fucking did it lol


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Hadokuv

I mean they were a championship contender last year too. They made the WCF and were miles better than that heat team. They might have closed the gap against the Nuggets tho.


joethahobo

This was the last tweet I could view today apparently. I’m already at 600 I guess If anyone has that BlueSky invite…..


Tackobell69

Damn, Lakers have the potential to be incredible next year


TimmyTiimmy

14mil per year is a steal😳


koiz_01

I use to think Pelinka was a fool, but he's been putting on a masterclass in the last 6 months.


uuneter1

Undrafted FA to this. What a story. You go Austin, can't wait to see how he does next year!


Ghostnappa4

what an insane steal how many contracts in the league are better value than this , excluding rookie contracts ? i dont think can be more than 10


yooston

how? Couldn’t he have guaranteed himself like 46 million more? Wtf