Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[michaeltex]

In a way, it was all 3 imo....
1 Is he gone because he didn't sign an extension --- an extension for the number they felt was the right one? Yes
2 they had no intention of signing him to a large contract --- Yes
3 or because they traded for a better player? --- Probably, but at least a player they felt was worth having on their payroll, who could fit in that $9M or so salary slot
I think there was also reason 4 - they felt Christie was a better player, who would be replacing Grimes and getting his minutes, at about half the expected price for Grimes.

They are working to stay under the Apron 2 line, and it's going to be hard. The MLE of 14M would essentially make it impossible, so they proactively found a player they like who can be on the payroll for 5M less. Hopefully Martin will also prove to be a better player than Grimes.

I think the dedication/conditioning issues just kept getting bigger and bigger the longer things went on and it is apparent that Luka's private team was not helping him meet expectations. So you can imagine the reluctance to laying out $70MM/yr for a player that feels more and more like the second coming of James Harden. 

On twist I haven't seen discussed is: what if Luka's team was signaling they were looking for a trade kicker or no-trade-clause in the next contract? It would be hard enough to move a super max contract, but adding another 10% or having to get the player's approval before pursuing a deal may have been a bridge too far. Haven't heard it said anywhere, just was wondering if there was another facet to this diamond.