Following Westbrook Trade LA Can't Afford to Let THT or Alex Caruso Leave

Following Westbrook Trade LA Can't Afford to Let THT or Alex Caruso Leave

After finishing their headline making trade to acquire Russel Westbrook from the Washington Wizards, the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves with only the taxpayer mid-level exemption (projected to be just under $6 million) and minimum contracts to fill roughly ten open spots on the roster. Plus, unless they part ways with Westbrook after just one season, this will almost surely be the case next year as well, with only the bi-annual exemption being added to the paltry few tools LA will have to improve its roster that summer.

Fortunately, the same salary cap rules that limit them to one exemption above the minimum this year and only two next summer, also provide Rob Pelinka and company a route to add two more talented players this offseason, and both likely at (or around) the full mid-level exemption the team was priced out of after acquiring Russ. Those players are Talen Horton-Tucker and Alex Caruso, and these are the reasons LA cannot afford to let either get away.

Talen Horton-Tucker

The route to LA keeping Tucker is much clearer than it is with Caruso. That’s mainly because his restricted status offers LA the ability to match any offer sheet he may sign, and the Gilbert Arenas rule limits teams to offering around that full mid-level money for the first two years of his contract. In short, even if THT receives a contract at the max in years three and four (hardly a forgone conclusion regardless of what one anonymous executive says) LA can still keep a talented, highly explosive young man with a ton of upside, and at no more than the equivalent of the full mid-level for the first two seasons.

Looking at it another way, what if the Lakers front office was told they could magically have an extra full MLE to spend this summer, but they could only spend it on THT? Would there be a sound reason for NOT signing him, since the team will most assuredly not have any other opportunity to sign someone at that price range until both Russ and LeBron finish their current deals in the summer of 2023? None that is immediately apparent.

Alex Caruso

With Caruso the path is trickier to LA keeping him, since he is an unrestricted free agent and can go wherever he chooses. Of course, as previously noted, the CBA gives the Lakers a chance to not only make Caruso a competitive offer to stay via full Bird rights, but pay him anything up to the max, a contract even the bald mamba is highly unlikely to command on the open market. Bottom line, if LA wants him back and Caruso wants to come back, there is nothing standing in the way financially to the sides making a deal.

Now, it is entirely possible that someone makes Alex an offer that includes a starting job, something he has yet to achieve, but given LA’s current salary situation and trade limitations is there anyone on the open market they can realistically sign for the taxpayer mid-level that is better than Caruso as their own starting shooting guard? His offensive limitations may have kept him on the bench in the past, but with the offensively gifted Westbrook joining the starting (and closing) five, it may finally be time for head coach Frank Vogel to give his 3 and D ace and "the LeBron James of playing with LeBron James" a chance to start.

Future Trade Flexibility

Keeping Caruso and THT also keeps trade options open for LA, both during this season and in the next offseason. As we just saw with the trade that brought Westbrook to LA, having those mid-level type salaries available to trade is crucial in virtually any transaction that nets a valuable player.

In fact, even if either guy isn’t a perfect fit right now, they are the only two ways LA has left to add a player making at or over the league average. This was an argument for keeping Schroder (who seemingly becomes expendable with the Westbrook trade), and is likely even a stronger one for keeping these two fan favorites.

For example, Golden State paid a ton of luxury tax over the last two seasons for the pleasure of overpaying both D’Angelo Russel and Andrew Wiggins respectively during losing seasons, just to hold onto a max level salary slot they would have otherwise lost when Kevin Durant left. In LA’s case, aside from solid talent, favorable ages, and a proven fit, Caruso and THT can effectively hold these salary slots open in case someone better comes along. If Golden State can afford it, then surely the second most valuable franchise in the league cannot claim that saving money is a viable reason to let this type of flexibility simply walk away.

Talent

Should LA find a way to keep both Caruso and THT, they are not only adding two players above the taxpayer MLE while simultaneously keeping their trade options open, but they are also keeping a pair of guys that offer something every team needs; talent.

Caruso is just starting his prime (age 27), and after last season it looks like his 3 point shot may finally be catching up to the reliability of his defensive game. Furthermore, since he is already a mainstay in closing lineups alongside LBJ and Anthony Davis, moving him into the starting lineup next to those guys and alongside Westbrook in the backcourt seems like a relatively solid fit. Admittedly, there may be situations where someone better than Caruso becomes available for the taxpayer MLE, (is Reggie Bullock better?) but a quick scan of the free agent market finds little to no options for legit starters at that price.

In Horton-Tucker, LA gets something they desperately need given their dearth of draft picks; a young, talented player with a ton of upside. Plus, THT can take his time developing into a starting quality guard until Westbrook’s contract ends and the (theoretical) second half of his four year contract begins.

Best and Only Options

Moving forward, as the Lakers front office goes about filling out the rest of their roster, they can’t afford to let these two valuable assets get away. Not only is it their only realistic route to adding players in this price range, and not only are both players arguably worthy of mid-level type money based on age and talent alone, but if LA hopes to make any trades in the foreseeable future, having guys with middling contracts that other teams have regularly showed an interest in will be exceedingly valuable, not to mention impossible to replace.

Mark Cuban once joked that after signing Shaq, Kobe and Glen Rice, LA’s big three would be surrounded by the ‘merry minimums’. If the Lakers front office takes care of business and finds a way to keep both Horton-Tucker and Caruso, then their latest big three will have at least two legitimate players making mid-level money to not only help them now, but also to keep their options open in the future.