The Lakers have had few bright spots this season, and now it seems that there is even a possibility of falling out of the playoff circle, and the hope of entering the playoffs is already in jeopardy. But having said that, the team's poor situation does not prevent fans from looking to the future, some people have begun to support the Lakers' offseason operations, and the most debated of them is undoubtedly whether the team can re-sign Malik Munch, the 24-year-old player has always been the third best person on the Lakers and the person that Lakers fans really admire. While Munch's agent recently said he wants Munch to always be a member of the Lakers, the NBA is a commercial league, and the just red point guard has at least three reasons to ditch the Lakers this summer.
1 dollar
This is the most obvious reason for Munch's departure from the Lakers, who are currently tied to Russell Westbrook's huge contract and the team will once again face the weight of luxury tax penalties. In the absence of Bird's rights, the most the Lakers can offer Munch is a taxpayer-level middle-class exception, which is about $5.9 million in terms of this season's salary cap, which is definitely lower than Munch's market value this offseason.
Seth Curry is a great player to compare to Munch, who hasn't signed a big contract before, but once he finally proved his worth, he got a four-year, $32 million contract from the Philadelphia 76ers. At that time, there was still a little gap between the salary ceiling and now, so the market value of the players will naturally rise slightly, so The editor feels that Munch can get a similar offer or a higher offer, and a 4-year contract worth a total of $36 million should be more reasonable. With an annual salary of $9 million or an annual salary of $5.9 million, which is more attractive, a 4-year contract or a 1- to 2-year contract, which is more secure?
2 The Lakers will not have much improvement next season
If there is a temptation to win the championship, maybe Munch will agree to a salary cut and sign a contract with the Lakers for another year, and gild himself in the process to further enhance the market value, for a player of his level, the best thing to do is to win the championship and play an important role in the team, if the Lakers win the championship, and Munch can average about 14 points per game in the Finals, then Xiaobian believes that his value will suddenly soar to $12 million a season.
But the problem is that the Lakers won't be a championship-level team next season, unless Munch blindly believes in the Lakers for no reason, in fact, because James will eventually start to regress as he ages, Davis' injury situation is getting worse, and their situation next season may not even be as good as this season. At the same time, because Wei Shao's contract still has a final year of up to $43 million in annual salary, the Lakers simply can't trade him, so he has a high probability of staying in the team next season, and the only thing the Lakers can change is to replace this season's basic salary players with some other basic salary players.
3 James is likely to be gone
James' departure usually puts the team in a situation where it can't help itself, and with his past three decisions, it's hard to say he won't do the same thing to the Lakers. It looks like James has at most two years to go, his contract expires after next season, and normally he will sign a one-year contract to give him the freedom to travel to any team in 2024 and play with his son Brownie James.
However, more and more reports and rumors about the contradictions between James and the Lakers have appeared recently, not to mention whether these news is true, but it also shows that the relationship between the two sides is no longer as harmonious as in the past, and it is entirely possible that James will leave the Lakers directly after the end of the 2022-23 season.
So even if the Lakers can find a way to send Wei Shao away, control the total salary below the luxury tax trigger line, and provide Munch with a full-time middle-class contract with an annual salary of $9 million, it may not be of much benefit to Munch's career. Of course, in theory, the Big Three, who has been running into a whole season, may perform better than this season, but the editor still does not support James to maintain the current level, and also expresses concerns about his health. And once James leaves, Munch will be trapped in a team that has fallen into hell and his market value will drop dramatically.
Can Munch ignore all this and go back to the Lakers? Xiaobian is really skeptical about this, he should definitely leave as soon as he can leave the Lakers, which is the best thing for his career, what do you think?