I keep seeing so many takes that our future is screwed because we a) don’t have draft picks and b) don’t have any cap space. I think there’s a lot of misinformation floating around for whatever reason. But below I tried to clarify our situation as best as possible going forward.
**Future Draft Picks**
|**Year**|**1st Round**|**2nd Round**|
:–|:–|:–|
|2023|LAL or NOP (1)|LAL; CHI (2)|
|2024|LAL* (1)|WAS or MEM (1)|
|2025|(0)|LAL (1)|
|2026|LAL (1)|(0)|
|2027|LAL (1)|LAL (1)|
|2028|LAL (1)|(0)|
|2029|LAL (1)|LAL (1)|
||||
||**6 total over 7 years**|6 total over 7 years|
||||
||* NOP can choose either 2024 or 2025 pick, LAL keeps the opposite||
**Stepien Rule**
Due to the [Stepien Rule](https://basketball.realgm.com/article/249279/CBA-Encyclopedia-Stepien-Rule) we can currently only trade the 2027 and 2029 first round picks. 2023 is ineligible due to 2022 being traded. 2024 and 2025 are ineligible until NOP chooses which one they want. 2026 is ineligible in case 2025 is chosen by NOP. 2027 is the soonest tradable FRP.
**Future Salary Cap**
|**Year**|**No of players**|**Est Cap Hit**|
:–|:–|:–|
|2023-24|4*|$91.7 mil|
|2024-25|2**|$93.8 mil|
|2025-26|0|$0|
|2026-27|0|$0|
|2027-28|0|$0|
|2028-29|0|$0|
|2029-30|0|$0|
||||
||* Jones is a Player Option||
||** James and Davis are player options||
Long story short, we have pretty good draft coverage, effectively only missing one first and one second round pick each, over the next 7 years. And on the salary cap side, we have no long term ‘bad’ contracts, so we have flexibility there as well.
Obviously this all depends on our front office making good decisions, which most seem skeptical of. But I do want to remind everyone that we generally have good scouting. And we had really good rosters in both 19-20 and 20-21, before the Westbrook trade. The Westbrook trade is really the only major black eye, imo. No, Caruso is not worth paying $30 mil in luxury taxes on, sorry, and I say that absolutely loving the guy.
Personally, I don’t think the the future is bleak, I think we’ve done a good job ensuring that we can rebuild once LeBron retires.
Happy holidays everyone, and remember the NBA is just entertainment, don’t let it ruin your mood too much.
by motorboat_mcgee
2 Comments
Can we pin this thread? This is useful info.
Suggestion: add a note about the Stepien Rule.
Question, does the Stepien Rule apply for second round picks?
And conversely, can we theoretically buy a first round pick similar to what we did this season?
Also, third question, what sorta free agents do you believe we can target in addition to drafting well in the coming seasons assuming LeBron retires or leaves after next season. The big big names coming to mind are obviously Luka and Tatum but anyone else you got in mind? I think we should be able to keep AD on a deal similar to that if Horford?
Edit: Added third question.