© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
TheThe aftermath of the Clippers’ incredible coup of both Kawhi Leonard in free agency and Paul George in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder is a free agency splurge by the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers were obviously holding out a final max slot in the hope of bringing Leonard to the Lakers, but when he fell through, the team went to other options to fill out the roster, using the roughly $32 million in space they had available.
First, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne, was Danny Green on a two-year, $30 million deal, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on a two-year, $16 million deal, and JaVale McGee on a two-year, $8.2 million deal. Then, the Lakers poached two Warriors free agents in Quinn Cook and DeMarcus Cousins.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, Quinn Cook will sign a two-year, $6 million deal.
Free agent guard Quinn Cook has reached an agreement with the Los Angeles Lakers on a two-year, $6 million deal, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 6, 2019
Then, the Lakers reportedly signed Cousins on the only one-year deal of their free agent group, and also signed Rajon Rondo on a two-year deal for an undisclosed amount. Cousins and Rondo will both be teaming up again with their old New Orleans Pelicans teammate, Anthony Davis. According to Wojnarowski, Davis helped sell Cousins on joining the Lakers.
The Miami Heat had interest in Cousins, but several Lakers players — including Anthony Davis — helped convince him on joining LA, league sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/U2fgWbb8PL
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019