Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[ACMFFL]

Please provide examples of teams not hesitating to spend 20 mil for their fourt or fifth best player. I don't see many around and have provided plenty of examples to the contrary.

Yes, with Lively out there are minutes available. But with Lively in, that chart you provided gets wrong. You also put zero minutes for Sasser and Biberovic, both this years acquisitions.

Actually there are plenty of examples that prove teams are still willing to spend around 12% of the cap for their 4th or 5th best player.
ATL: Daniels (15.2%)
CLE: Watson (12.4%)
DEN: Braun (13.1%)
HOU: Jabari (14.3%)
IND: Nembhard (11.9%), Neismith (11%)*
MIN: Dosunmu (11.7%)
NOP: Herb (12%)*
NYK: Hart (12.7%)
ORL: WCJ (11%)
OKC: Hartenstein (14%), Caruso (11.9%)
POR: Camara (11%), Sharpe (12.2%)
SAS: Vassell (16.7%)


Well, that's a 10-men depth chart, 
Sasser and Biberovic are end of the bench players at the moment, the fact that they are new signings doesn't automatically mean they will have guaranteed playing time. I mean, they won't get it even if Dallas trades PJ for nothing. After all, the same applies to all the Lakers' new arrivals: not everyone of them will make the rotation when all healthy. 
And, as I’ve already said, Lively needs to prove he is physically healthy before he can be counted on.
When everyone will be available, I think it's Gafford the odd man out, more than PJ.

Also we are acting like injuries don't happen, I mean over the past two years all of Gafford, Lively, Washington, Aldama and Irving averaged less than 60 games per season
57 Washington 
56 Gafford
54 Aldama
25 Irving (58 games if we count the two seasons before ACL)
22 Lively