After playing for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 2022-23 run, Mo Bamba and Malik Beasley got waived and declined, respectively.
Los Angeles have made several roster moves that will aid the team open up almost 12.5 million dollars to draw in some new talents.
Mo Bamba, who has now been waived by the Lakers, would have owed 10.3 million dollars in the upcoming season.
Not only that, but Los Angeles also has not decided to acquire the 16.5 million dollar contract option for their shooting guard, Malik Beasley.
During this offseason when the Lakers are rebuilding their squad, they will remain under the 172 million dollar luxury tax cap for the 2023-24 season and allow them to utilize the 12.4 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception because of their decisions on the aforementioned players.
The Lakers are also interested in signing Denver’s Bruce Brown and Milwaukee’s center, Brook Lopez with their non-tax midlevel.
Other options for Los angeles is to split the full midlevel and pursue other free agents with that cash. To name a few, the Lakers could sign Dennis Schorder, who had a decent performance with the Lakers in the regular season and in the post-season and Eric Gordon of the Los Angeles Clippers, who was waived by the Clippers. These are players that the Lakers could have their aim on in that siuation.
Both players were acquired via trade during the February trade deadline as Rob Pelinka made some big decisions, fueling Los Angeles’ late-season comeback that carried them up until the fourth game of the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets.
Bamba had struggles with the Lakers due to an ankle injury that kept him sidelined for most of his time with the Lakers. The lanky center averaged 3.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in only nine appearances wearing the purple and gold jersey after the Orlando Magic traded him in a swap that included Patrick Beverley.
As for the shooting guard, Beasley averaged 11.1 points and 3.3 rebounds while playing for 26 regular-seasons matchups after joining the Lakers in a three-team deal that included the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Utah Jazz. In this trade, LA parted ways with Russell Westbrook. Unfortunately, Beasley’s performance gradually became subpar, only averaging three points and only shooting 26.9% from beyond the three-point arc and only played one minute in the conference finals.
Lastly, the Lakers also waived guard Shaquille Harrison, who only played eight playoffs games after joining the squad back in the 9th of April.