The Washington Wizards did the Los Angeles Lakers a huge favor Thursday — agreeing to take on Moritz Wagner, Jemerrio Jones and Issac Bonga in a trade, according to multiple reports.
Washington will also receive a 2022 second-round pick from the Lakers and send $1.1 million in cash to the New Orleans Pelicans to complete the deal.
By the Wizards agreeing to the trade, Lakers are now projected to have $32 million in salary cap space — enough to offer a free agency a max contract when free agency opens Sunday. That’s potentially enough to pair a third star with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the latter of whom they agreed to trade for earlier this month.
The deal can’t become official until July 6.
The Lakers desperately needed another trade partner to help clear up cap space after the Davis trade, which is now technically a three-team deal involving the Wizards. Without it, the Lakers were set to have as low as $23 million in room. That likely would have not been enough to lure top free agents.
In addition to the trade, Davis has agreed to waive his $4 million trade kicker — helping the Lakers get to $32 million.
Los Angeles will have to decide how it wants to spend its resources. Outside of James and Davis, the Lakers have just one player — Kyle Kuzma — under contract. Do the Lakers plan on spreading the $32 million across a number of quality free agents, or do they plan on pursuing a star? Once the Lakers are over the cap, they can use exceptions to fill out the rest of their roster.
According to Yahoo Sports, the Lakers plan on meeting with reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard in free agency. If Leonard agrees to sign, the Lakers would become an instant favorite to win next year’s championship. But Leonard will also meet with the Clippers and the Raptors. The Raptors are the favorites to re-sign Leonard, per Yahoo.
The Lakers have also been linked to Brooklyn Nets guard D’Angelo Russell, who they drafted second overall in 2015 but traded away in 2017.
While this does help the Lakers considerably, the Wizards is receiving a trio of young players out of the deal — one of whom they were severely interested in prior to the 2018 draft.
Wagner, who the Lakers drafted 25th overall last year, worked out for the Wizards in May 2018. The 22-year-old is a 6-foot-11 center who is a skilled offensive player with some range. He shot almost 40% from deep in his final two years at Michigan.
As a rookie, Wagner averaged 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in limited playing time. He logged just 10.4 minutes per game in 43 appearances.
All three players sent to the Wizards have just a year of NBA experience.
Bonga, a guard, was a second-round pick last year, while Jones, a forward, was an undrafted free agent.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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