Lakers owner: Filling roster following Westbrook addition a 'challenge'
Los Angeles Lakers owner and president Jeanie Buss admitted that it was a challenge to fill out the roster following the blockbuster trade for Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook officially joined the Lakers on Aug. 6 as part of a five-team swap that saw Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, and Montrezl Harrell sent to the Washington Wizards. That move, along with five key contributors departing for free agency, gutted Los Angeles' top-heavy roster.
"We're over the cap. We have really no room. When we made that trade (for Westbrook), we knew we'd have to fill the roster with seven or eight players at the veterans minimum," Buss told The Athletic's Daniel Kaplan.
Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka did exactly that, signing Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, Dwight Howard, Wayne Ellington, Kent Bazemore, and Malik Monk to team-friendly one-year deals.
"And so trying to convince players to come on one-year deals for the minimum is a challenge," Buss added. "So you get a lot of guys that are willing to take less money for the opportunity to possibly go for a championship or play in a city that has other opportunities as they transition to the next part of their career."
With Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis combining to pocket more than $121 million for the 2021-22 season, Buss conceded that the Lakers benefit from the allure of playing alongside a Big Three in one of the league's biggest markets.
"And we kind of had to capitalize on that because we've got three players taking up 90% of our payroll, and certainly, Russell Westbrook," Buss said.
"You know we've got a Big Three now, and Russell is somebody that's from L.A., went to UCLA, and I think our fans are going to be just cuckoo for him, are going to be so happy that he's here. It's like the return of one of our own."
The new-look Lakers open the 2021-22 season at home on Oct. 19 against the Golden State Warriors.