Luol Deng is set to become a free agent after he and the Lakers agreed to a buyout on the remaining two years of his contract. (AP Photo) Luol Deng has been set free. According to multiple reports, Deng and the Los Angeles Lakers have reached a buyout agreement on the remainder of his contract. Sources: The Los Angeles Lakers and forward Luol Deng are finalizing a contract buyout as part of waive-and-stretch provision. — Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 1, 2018 The Lakers signed Deng to a four year, $72 million contract in 2016. The stretch-and-waive allows them to free up more space by paying out the remaining $36.8 million on Deng’s contract over several years. The $18 million he’ll be paid for 2018-2019 is already committed, but since the Lakers chose to do the stretch-and-waive after Aug. 31, they will be able to stretch the remaining $18.8 million Deng is owed over the next three years. This move has a big impact for Deng. He’s now a free agent, which is great for him since things never quite clicked with the Lakers. But it also has serious implications for the Lakers’ future. The Lakers will pay Deng just $6.27M a year over the next three years, which will give them over $35 million in cap space for the 2019-20 season. That cap space gives them enough money to go after a big free agent to complement LeBron James, and they’ll definitely find one. Kawhi Leonard will be on the market, and so could Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and Jimmy Butler. Any one of those guys could help the Lakers in the future. – – – – – – Liz Roscher is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter at @lizroscher. More from Yahoo Sports: • Reports: Raiders agree to trade Mack to Bears • Yankees manager has epic meltdown • Serena overcomes ankle injury in match against Venus • Kevin Iole: Can Conor-Khabib sell 3 million PPVs?<doc-sep>Be afraid of the Los Angeles Lakers. Not only do they have Magic Johnson and LeBron James. But this front office is legit. Witness the Luol Deng buyout. As foreshadowed by the prescient Mark Deeks earlier this week, the Lakers indeed reached a buyout agreement with the veteran Deng that went into effect on September 1. They used the stretch provision to do it, shrinking the salary cap burden of the contract on an annual basis by extending the pain over a longer time period. That’s important, because it helps the Lakers in their quest to add another superstar free agent next summer. By buying out Deng with the stretch provision, the Lakers immediately enter the race for Kawhi Leonard or DeMarcus Cousins with no further moves necessary. But it gets even better. Pulling off this buyout with the stretch provision after August 31 allowed the Lakers to keep the cap hit for Deng’s 2018-19 salary full while stretching only salary due to him in 2019-20. That shrinks the dead cap on the Lakers’ books going forward substantially. The stretch provision allows you to waive the player and for salary cap purposes only charge the amount owed in equal installments over a term equal to twice plus one the years left on the deal. The Lakers owed Deng $36.8 million over two years thanks to the largesse of the team’s previous front office. Had the Lakers waived and used the stretch provision on August 31, L.A. would be carrying $7.36 million in dead cap space for five years, a huge burden. However, shrinking the Deng’s cap hit for 2019-20 would give the Lakers $35.8 million in cap space in the critical summer of 2019: enough for a max contract for a player with less than 10 years of service, like Leonard, Cousins, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson, or Kemba Walker. By waiting until September 1, Deng’s 2018-19 salary became fully committed, meaning the Lakers could only stretch his 2019-20 salary. This is fine, because there’s no reason for the Lakers to clear 2018-19 cap space now: all the players you’d use it on are signed! The other reason a team might use it — to minimize luxury tax payments — are irrelevant to the Lakers. By waiting, the Lakers would instead count $18 million of Deng’s contract against the 2018-19 sheet and carrying $6.27 million in dead cap space for three years. That’d get the Lakers’ 2019 cap space to $36.9 million — a little bit more cushion for signing a player with less than 10 years of service to a max contract. Those players are projected to sign for $32.7 million in starting salary next summer. But what about players with 10 or more years of service, like, say, Kevin Durant? Their projected max starting salary next year is $38.2 million. So stretching Deng over three years wouldn’t quite do the trick. There would need to be another move to make the space. Unless the Lakers convinced Deng to take a discount to get out of his contract. Which they did. ESPN reporting with @ramonashelburne: In buyout with Lakers, Luol Deng walked away from $7.5M on the $36.8M left on his contract. With waive and stretch provision, Lakers have cleared $38M in salary cap space in 2019 free agency. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 1, 2018 Deng agreed to give up $7.5 million off the $36.8 million owed to him. It’s not cap trickery: it’s real salary that Deng will relinquish just to free himself from the contract and join another team. That buyout discount — which is steeper than normal, as players aren’t usually willing to give up substantially amounts contractually owed to them for obvious reasons — is split over the two years even though Deng’s full salary will count against the cap this season. So the Lakers’ irrelevant Deng cap hit for 2018-19 becomes $14.3 million, and the amount to be stretched over the subsequent three years becomes $15 million, which becomes an annual dead cap weight of $5 million per year. A $7.5M buyout for Luol Deng would mean Lakers’ decision to waive-and-stretch him this early saved an extra $1.3M on his dead-money cap charge for 2019-20 (and the following two seasons), decreasing it to $5.0M. Lakers (pre-draft) cap room would, in turn, increase to $38.2M. — Albert Nahmad (@AlbertNahmad) September 1, 2018 Remember, Durant’s 2019-20 starting max salary is $38.2 million. The timing of the stretch provision down to the day, plus the buyout discount Deng agreed to down to the dollar, give the Lakers projected 2019-20 cap space of ... $38.2 million. Is Durant remotely interested in joining LeBron on the Lakers? No one knows. But on the chance that he is, the Lakers are ready to give him every dollar he deserves ... just like they were prepared to do for LeBron this summer. Preparation is the mother of success. The Lakers’ front office drew guffaws when it followed up the LeBron coup by signing Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley, and JaVale McGee. No one should be laughing anymore. The Lakers are worth fearing again.<doc-sep>Ron Jenkins/Associated Press The Los Angeles Lakers are working on finalizing a buyout with Luol Deng through the stretch provision, Stadium's Shams Charania reported Saturday. At the time it was signed, Deng's four-year, $72 million contract with Los Angeles was a head-scratcher. The Lakers' 2016 offseason was even more puzzling when adding in the four-year, $64 million deal given to Timofey Mozgov. The team paid Deng and Mozgov $34 million to help win 26 games. Los Angeles found a taker for Mozgov's unwieldy contract when it traded him and D'Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets for Brook Lopez and the draft rights to Kyle Kuzma. One assumed it was only a matter of time before Deng joined Mozgov out the door. Lakers head coach Luke Walton made it clear he didn't envision the 32-year-old forward playing a big role for the team on the court. "We've talked," Walton said in October, per the Orange County Register's Bill Oram. "It's 82 games. There's a lot that's going to change, but for right now we've asked him to stay sharp, to keep working to stay ready for when he gets called on and continue mentoring our young players." Walton was true to his word, as Deng played just 13 minutes for the entire season. Video Play Button Videos you might like This move benefits all parties involved. Deng clearly had little value to a rebuilding team, and he was unlikely to significantly help the Lakers when they're in a better position to contend. Shedding even part of his contract also frees up much-needed salary-cap space for when Los Angeles wants to pursue a marquee free agent or two. Deng, meanwhile, has the luxury of selecting his next destination. He could chase his first NBA title on a contending team, or he could opt for a franchise where he's likely to have the most playing time. Deng averaged 10.3 points per 36 minutes and made a career-low 38.7 percent of his shots in 2016-17, according to Basketball Reference. His 30.9 percent clip on three-pointers was also a noticeable drop from the two years before (35.5 percent in 2014-15 and 34.4 percent in 2015-16). Still, the Lakers were 1.2 points better per 100 possessions with Deng on the floor two years ago, according to NBA.com. He remained a solid perimeter defender, holding opponents to 32.2 percent shooting on three-pointers and 35.5 percent on shots from more than 15 feet, per NBA.com. Although he's never going to be the player who reached back-to-back All-Star Games in 2012 and 2013, Deng is good enough to be a productive bench option for an NBA team.<doc-sep>
Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press Luol Deng's run with the Los Angeles Lakers is officially over. The veteran forward earned a staggering $17.2 million last year for what proved to be a single 13-minute stint in the season opener (call it $8.6 million per point scored). On Saturday, the Lakers officially set the 33-year-old free, waiving him despite another two years and $36.8 million left on his contract. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne, Deng will give up $7.5 million to pursue other opportunities, dropping the figure to a still-expensive $29.3 million. It's important to understand the nuances, but big picture, the Lakers finally finished cleaning up their books enough to try to lure Kevin Durant to play with LeBron James in Los Angeles next summer. Finally, the mistakes of 2016—notably the two significant investments in Timofey Mozgov and Deng—are history. The moves led to the firings of Jim Buss (still a part owner of the franchise) and Mitch Kupchak. Now, only Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac remain from the previous regime. Video Play Button Videos you might like The natural question of the Deng move is, "Why now?" The answer lies in the NBA's rules on the stretch provision. The deadline to waive and stretch Deng for the 2018-19 season was Aug. 31. Had the Lakers cut him one day earlier, his full $29.3 million would have been paid out over five seasons at $5.9 million per year. Instead, Deng's full salary, an estimated $14.3 million after applying $3.7 million of the buyout, will stay on the Lakers' books for the year. Los Angeles was already over the league's $101.9 million salary cap; shedding Deng doesn't change that. It's Deng's second year, reduced to $15 million, that will stretch over three seasons through 2021-22 at $5 million per season. By waiting until September, the Lakers took the brunt of Deng's salary on this year's books while trimming $13.8 million from next summer's payroll. The sacrifice is $5 million in lost spending power for the following two seasons, but that shouldn't be a significant factor. If the team lands a second star next summer as it hopes, the Lakers won't have to worry about protecting cap room for several years. After snagging James—the biggest free-agent acquisition by any franchise this summer—executives Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Rob Pelinka quickly committed one-year contracts to Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Beasley, JaVale McGee and Lance Stephenson. The quest for a big-name partner for James will probably have to wait until the summer of 2019. While waiting, the team hopes one or more of its young prospects like Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Ingram step into that role. John Locher/Associated Press Based on the NBA's current $109 million cap projection for 2019-20, Durant (the most expensive at $38 million) headlines the list of potential free agents. He may not leave the Golden State Warriors, but if he is interested, the Lakers will have just enough to pay him. With a roster of eight players next July—Josh Hart, Moritz Wagner, Svi Mykhailiuk, Isaac Bonga, James, Ingram, Ball and Kuzma—the Lakers project to have $38.2 million in cap space. To get to that figure, the Lakers would have to renounce the free-agent rights to everyone else on the roster. The team's 2019 first-round pick would shrink that number by $1 million to $2.4 million, assuming L.A. makes the playoffs, but that's a much smaller obstacle than Deng's salary. If needed, the Lakers can trade down or out of the draft, or they can select a player who is committed to playing overseas for a year. The price for the other high-level potential free agents such as Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins, Jimmy Butler, Kemba Walker and Kyrie Irving will be nearly $33 million next year, giving the Lakers up to another $5 million to play with. Eric Gay/Associated Press/Associated Press Regardless, Deng had to go for the Lakers to afford a second star. The team could have waited, but a $7.5 million reimbursement is something. It cost losing Deng as a trade asset, but in real-world terms, he was a trade liability. The Lakers knew the market well, and the cost would have undoubtedly been prohibitive. Why deal Ingram, Kuzma or Hart when you can just pay Deng to go away? Los Angeles has drafted well in recent years, and the franchise is better off using its picks for roster depth.