The L.A. Lakers and Orlando Magic Now Face Contract Concerns

Less than twenty four hours after the L.A. Lakers popped the champagne to celebrate their NBA championship, there is consideration of free agency and who will be back next year. Hedo Turkoglu has the option of becoming a free agent and his agent is already speaking of Orlando in the past tense:

“”I think Hedo distinguished himself in this playoff run,” the agent said. “He’s in a different spot than he was before the playoffs began. He’s a rare player, a unique player who helped take a team to the Finals. He’s grateful for the opportunity he has been given. He’s enjoyed his time in Orlando. It’s a solid organization, a team on the rise…”

link: Agent: Turkoglu to enter free agency

The Orlando Magic face the possibility of losing Hedo Turkoglu unless there is an offer of a substantial increase in pay.

The L.A. Lakers also have some free agency issues. Trevor Ariza, Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown soon will become free agents. The task before Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak is finding the dollars to keep these three members of a championship team together for a possible repeat. Lamar Odom has indicated that he would consider a pay decrease to stay with the Lakers. The question remains how much of a pay cut from over fourteen million dollars would Lamar Odom take.

A possible consideration for Mitch Kupchak may be to trade away some of the large salaries. Presently, as a comparison, Sasha Vujacic makes over four and a half million dollars per season. Shannon Brown has an annual salary of under eight hundred thousand dollars.

Sasha Vujacic has had shooting problems throughout the regular season and throughout the post season play. In the final series against the Magic, Sasha Vujacic failed to score a single point and his playing time was limited. Is this a player the Lakers can afford to keep?

Adam Morrison is another player drawing an annual salary of over four million dollars. Since joining the Lakers from the Charlotte Bobcats, Adam Morrison has seen little court time. And another contract that may be considered is the over four million annual salary paid to Luke Walton. There will be debate about whether Luke Walton’s knowledge of the offense makes him one of the core members of the team whom the Lakers should retain.

And to add to the financial entanglements, Kobe Bryant can negotiate with the Lakers for a more attractive annual salary. He is paid slightly over twenty one million now and that could be increased for the years to come.

Free agency happens for the NBA players on June 30th. Before that time, the general managers will be trying to be creative financially. Very large salaries and equally large egos are involved. As the last of the NBA players prepare for some holidays, the business of basketball soon becomes very serious.

Catherine Forsythe