Jerry Buss' spending and the Lakers' salary structure going forward

I thought this one deserved a thread of its own, as I've seen the topic come up a number of times here and on the Globe site and thought it might be easier to reference if someone's looking for it in the future.

This was originally a response to Bob.

bobheckler wrote:BSH,

However, the Lakers team salary is already out-of-sight without Kobe's raise. If the salary cap goes down next year, as many expect, then Kobe's additional money (as well deserved as it may be) could really hurt Buss's ability to sign other players.

You talk about spending the whole MLE on a point guard. Well a lower salary cap and a higher team salary won't make things any easier for Buss. Sure, he has some salaries he can, and probably will, dump. But he's way-the-hell-and-gone over the cap already.

You say "So what? He's a bazillionaire and he thinks longterm $ and is focused on passing the Celtics in championships". I say that he has already expressed a certain amount of discomfort at "spending what it takes" based upon his hard-nosed negotiations this past offseason with Ariza and Odom. He probably had little to fear with Odom leaving, because of the size of the contract, but he cut a just-blooming 24-year old greyhound loose over a difference of roughly 2 mill a year. He's gonna spend $5-6M MORE for a point guard? Furthermore, Gasol and Brown will be in their last contract years. He's not going to want to lose either one and Brown is worth more than the $2M he's making now. He'll probably eat up half of the money saved on Morrison and Sasha and Buss'll still be way over the cap. If Gasol gets a raise, there goes most of the rest of that money.

bob

Bob-

I agree with you that Buss is getting towards the limit of what he wants to spend on payroll. If they could have re-signed Ariza at MLE-level money, they would have, but his jackass of an agent was talking about $10m/year. Worried they could lose Ariza and end up empty-handed, they quickly turned to Artest for the MLE.


The cap is meaningless for the Lakers, as they are so far over it- it's all about the luxury tax threshold. They're paying $21m in lux tax this year on top of $91m in player salaries.

Ammo and Fisher come off the books this summer for $10M in savings (Sasha the worthless shitbag unfortunately doesn't come off until summer 2011). But the $10m they save this summer is somewhat offset by the raises in most of the player's deals. If they sign someone to the full MLE they will be at $93m in salaries next year, once they re-sign Fish at the vet min (hopefully) to come off the bench and be a mentor/ locker room leader, then fill out the last three roster spots with Powell and Mbenga-type min-level players.

After Sasha's waste of $5m drops off in summer 2011, Walton's $5m salary comes off in summer 2013. This will allow the Lakers' salary structure to stay basically the same over the next 4 years, as those deals coming off the books will offset the raises the other players are getting. I doubt the Lakers will go after someone at the MLE in both years, although maybe in 2013, depending on what else is happening with the team, as the revenue side will certainly be greater 4 years from now than it is today.

So their core group for the next four years will be: Kobe, Pau (no-brainer that he's re-signed), Artest, BYnum, LO, Brown (most likely re-signed), Walton, and whoever they sign this summer as a PG.

Buss would prefer not to spend full MLE money if he doesn't have to on a PG this summer, and maybe he won't have to , if they get someone like CJ Watson, who would be great in the triangle, for, say $3m/year. Of all the FA PGs next summer, he's actually my first choice, so the fact that he would probably come at a reasonable price is a nice bonus.

If KObe signs off on someone like Watson, great, but if he pushes for someone who they can only get for the full MLE, BUss will end up doing it b/c their window is open right now, and as much as he doesn't want to pay those levels of salary, BUss, like KObe, wants to win more than anything else, and has indicated he is pretty much resigned to this type of salary structure for the next few years.



side note- if he has a good season, Brown would be much better opting out this year, which he can do. Anyone, like Pau, who has the unfortunate timing of becoming a FA in 2011 will have their new deal structured under the new CBA, which will not be as favorable to the players. Pau will still get big money, but it will be less than what would have happened if the was a FA this summer. Same dynamic with Brown, although on a smaller level obviously, if he doesn't get a new deal done this summer.