NBA Free Agency 2020: Why Loul Deng's contract will hamper LA Lakers ability to upgrade their roster in the coming days

The 2020 NBA Champions, LA Lakers, are looking to repeat their title victory. The team has made significant offseason moves and acquired some renowned names in NBA Free Agency 2020. However, the LA Lakers' biggest obstacle in the offseason was clearing cap space. In order to acquire certain players, they had no choice but to get rid of some players as well.

The LA Lakers attempted to unload Luol Deng's salary to make room in their cap space, by applying for the career-ending injury exception.

NBA Free Agency 2020: LA Lakers' request to offload Luol Deng's salary was denied

Luol Deng playing for the LA Lakers

The LA Lakers offered Luol Deng a 4-year $72 million contract in 2016. Luol suffered a career-ending injury and the LA Lakers waived him in the 2019 offseason to create cap space. The Lakers still owe Deng $15 million and applied for the career-ending injury exception to offload his salary. However, reports suggest their request was denied by the NBA.

The Los Angeles Lakers application to exclude Luol Deng’s salary from team salary books has been denied by the NBA, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Deng is owed salary through 2022.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 26, 2020

The LA Lakers' application was denied because, in order for a team's exception application to be valid, two conditions must be fulfilled. First, the player must have suffered the injury while playing for that particular team. Secondly, the player must have appeared in at least 25 games.

Luol Deng played 22 games for the Minnesota Timberwolves after his time with the LA Lakers, which is below the exception minimum. As a result, the Lakers' application was rejected.

OFFICIAL: The reigning Sixth Man of the Year is joining the defending champs 😤 pic.twitter.com/ajVYAHtDdC

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 23, 2020

Due to the 'Stretch Provision', the LA Lakers will pay Deng across the 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 season. The team has no cap flexibility and after they signed Montrezl Harrell with the mid-level exception, it set their hard cap at $138.9 million.

The LA Lakers cannot exceed that amount under any circumstances and the lack of cap flexibility is what triggered the JaVale McGee trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The move was necessary to make room for new signing Marc Gasol's contract.

LA Lakers celebrating their 2020 NBA Championship

The LA Lakers don't plan on denying Luol Deng his money, although the team was trying to exclude his salary from their cap calculations. The lack of cap flexibility hinders their chances to sign another free agent. The LA Lakers will have to set aside $5 million every year in their salary cap until 2022 to account for Deng's pay.

The team will also have to manage their cap space very carefully if they intend to make any more notable moves in the offseason.