Here’s Why The Lakers Might Not Be Able To Sign Another Big Name After Trading For Anthony Davis

lakers cap space anthony davis trade

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Earlier this season, Anthony Davis made it very clear that he was sick and tired of having to play for the Pelicans and teams around the NBA quickly geared up for a chance to land the superstar—and no one was more thirsty than the Lakers.

Los Angeles quickly put together a package in the hopes of trading for the superstar but it appeared New Orleans wasn’t interested, and after toying with the Lakers for a couple of weeks, it was eventually revealed the Pelicans had been fucking with them the entire time (although the Lakers certainly didn’t do themselves any favors by leaking trade rumors during negotiations).

There was speculation that Davis would change his mind about leaving New Orleans when the Pelicans secured the first pick in the draft and all but guaranteed they’d be adding Zion Williamson to their roster. However, that didn’t do much to sway him.

Over the weekend, the saga came to an end when the Lakers finally landed Davis, and since then, there’s been plenty of speculation that the team would be pursuing another big name to add to their roster.

However, in the immortal words of Lee Corso: Not so fast, my friend!

Earlier this week, a high-profile NBA agent said that the Davis trade was the only way the Lakers were going to land a superstar in the offseason because other sought-after free agents had no interest in signing with Los Angeles.

However, that’s not the only reason they might not be able to land another big name.

On Monday, Adrian Wojnarowski appeared on SportsCenter and noted the real reason the Lakers might miss out: cap space.

Due to the way NBA rules are structured, the Lakers may have shot themselves in the foot by pulling the trigger so early, as they will take a cap space hit by not waiting until July 30th to trade the No. 4 pick away (the trade in question can’t be finalized until July 6th and almost certainly will be around that date).

As a result, they’ll only have $23.7 million in cap space, which isn’t enough to sign a major player unless they’re willing to take a dramatic pay cut to team up with LeBron and AD.

On the bright side, they still have LeBron and AD so something tells me things will turn out just fine.

Connor Toole avatar and headshot for BroBible
Connor Toole is the Deputy Editor at BroBible. He is a New England native who went to Boston College and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. Frequently described as "freakishly tall," he once used his 6'10" frame to sneak in the NBA Draft and convince people he was a member of the Utah Jazz.