Heading into the offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers had only three guaranteed contracts on the books (Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant and Robert Sacre). Now, weeks removed from the NBA Draft, the Lakers still only have three contracts on the books. How is this possible after the team drafted Julius Randle at No. 7 and Jordan Clarkson at No. 46? Well, as the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes has yet to come to a close, Los Angeles is keeping the excess cap space open in the event Anthony decides to sign a maximum contract with the Lakers.
So, one may assume, no big deal the NBA season does not begin until for months from now and what does it matter if Randle is under contract or not. Well, first and foremost, the Lakers cannot spend the salary assumed by Randle due to something called a “cap hold.” A cap hold basically acts as a temporary deduction in available salary cap space for a player who is expected to be signed in the relatively near future. For example, Los Angeles currently has an approximate $34,200,000 on the books between Nash, Bryant and Sacre. Next we must add in Randle's cap hold on a rookie scale minimum salary of $2.4 million, making the Lakers' total for owed salaries about $36,600,000.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.
On This Day In UK Basketball History
- On March 18, 1966, Louie Dampier joined the 1,000-point club. He did it in 53 games.
- On March 18, 1966, Kentucky, the No. 1 team in the nation, faced off against No. 2 Duke in the 1966 NCAA Final Four. Louie Dampier (23 points) and Pat Riley (19) led the top-ranked Cats past No. 2 Duke in front of 14,253 at the Cole Field House in College Park, Md.
- On March 18, 1972, Adolph Rupp coaches his last game at UK, a 73-54 loss to Florida State for the Mideast Region title in the NCAA Tournament.
- On March 18, 1978, in the 1978 NCAA Tournament round of eight, sophomore point guard Kyle Macy scored nine points in the final 6:16 to rally the Wildcats past Michigan State and freshman star Earvin “Magic” Johnson before 13,485 at the University of Dayton Arena.