Walker Kessler is ready to ride for the Purple and Gold
"It makes you feel a certain way when you know an organization believes in you. ... If I know they have that belief in me, I'm going to run through a brick wall for them. That's how I've been wired my whole life."
The Reaves contract is the maximum allowable salary in year 1; $41.2M.
Year 2 is a roughly 4% increase off year 1
With the cap only projected to increase 5.5% in 2027-28, we are seeing a trend in how contracts are structured in the second season.
Lakers reach a deal with Williams and CAA Co-Head of Basketball Aaron Mintz to address their wing depth -- and LA continues to strongly pursue Jonathan Kuminga as a potential starting forward, sources tell ESPN. Williams averaged 10.2 points and 22.9 minutes for the Nets last season and enters his sixth campaign.
This means the Lakers will operate above the cap to acquire a starting-level forward/wing (if they so choose).
Here are the salary-matching rules they'll be dealing with:
-- Up to $8.8M in outgoing salary can bring back 200% plus $250K (e.g., Jaden Hardy for a player making up to $12.25M)
-- $8,800,001 to $29M will be padded by a flat $9,096,000 (e.g., Jarred Vanderbilt for a player making up to ~$21.5M)
-- Above $29M will be limited to 125% plus $250K (unlikely LA is able to combine this much salary)