Los Angeles Lakers: Three emergency options that nobody wants to see
By Jason Reed
2. Signing DeMarcus Cousins and Jimmy Butler
I can already see the headlines now: The Los Angeles Lakers sign two superstars this summer, create a new big three with DeMarcus Cousins and Jimmy Butler.
The Los Angeles Lakers only have enough cap space for one superstar this summer but these are two superstars that are likely going to take pay cuts and for good reason. Not many teams are going to be that interested in Cousins or Butler, drawing a path directly to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Cousins signed a one-year deal after coming off of an Achilles injury with the Golden State Warriors but has not looked great in limited playing time and suffered another injury in the first round of the playoffs.
Because of his health concerns and his demeanor, there is a chance that all Cousins gets this summer is another one-year deal for $5 million, which opens the door for the Lakers to also get Butler.
Butler has been a lockerroom headache himself and is likely not going to get a max contract from any teams because of it. He definitely seems like the kind of player that would sign with the highest bidder and the Lakers very well could win that auction with a four-year, $120 million contract.
Some fans might actually be happy with this as a starting five of Ball, Butler, Brandon Ingram, LeBron and Cousins is absolutely terrifying on paper. However, the chaos that would ensue would be worse than the current chaos.