{"id":64645,"date":"2022-09-03T07:55:05","date_gmt":"2022-09-03T07:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/lakers-interested-in-jazz-vets-hope-to-keep-2023-cap-room\/"},"modified":"2022-09-03T07:55:05","modified_gmt":"2022-09-03T07:55:05","slug":"lakers-interested-in-jazz-vets-hope-to-keep-2023-cap-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/lakers-interested-in-jazz-vets-hope-to-keep-2023-cap-room\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Interested In Jazz Vets, Hope To Keep 2023 Cap Room"},"content":{"rendered":"
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the Lakers<\/strong> have \u201csome interest\u201d in Jazz<\/strong> veteran Bojan Bogdanovic<\/strong><\/strong>, Mike Conley<\/strong><\/strong> and Jordan Clarkson<\/strong><\/strong>but are still trying to maintain their cap room for 2023, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports (twitter<\/a> links<\/a>). The Lakers currently project to have about $30MM in cap room next summer.<\/p>\n

As Zillgitt observes, Conley’s $24.36MM salary for 2023\/24 is partially guaranteed at $14.32MM, while Clarkson has a player option worth $14.26MM, which may affect how much interest LA has in the two guards.<\/p>\n

Bogdanovic is on a $19.55MM expiring contract, and several teams are reportedly pursuing the 33-year-old forward, a talented scorer and shooter who has converted at least 38.7% of his three-point tries in each of the last five seasons.<\/p>\n

In order to match salaries, Russell Westbrook<\/strong><\/strong>‘s $47.1MM expiring deal would have to be sent to Utah, because the Lakers don’t have any tradable mid-sized contracts. If they don’t want to take on money beyond next season, a package of Bogdanovic, Malik Beasley<\/strong><\/strong> and Nickeil Alexander Walker<\/strong><\/strong> theoretically works for salary-matching purposes, and all are on expiring or pseudo-expiring deals (there’s a ’23\/24 team option for Beasley at $16.52MM).<\/p>\n

However, it’s unclear if the Lakers would be interested in that scenario, considering the Jazz might ask for both of the Lakers’ available first-round picks (2027 and 2029). Utah is in the middle of a roster teardown, with a particular emphasis on accumulating unprotected first-rounders.<\/p>\n

In other Lakers-related news, Jovan Buha of The Athletic reassesses the team’s depth chart and rotation after acquiring Patrick Beverley<\/strong><\/strong> from Utah in exchange for Talen Horton-Tucker<\/strong><\/strong> and Stanley Johnson<\/strong><\/strong>. Sources tell Buha that Thomas Bryant<\/strong><\/strong> and Austin Reaves<\/strong><\/strong> have been \u201cstandout performers\u201d in offseason workouts, and Buha currently has both players slotted in the starting lineup at center and shooting guard, respectively.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n