10 trades and free-agent signings the Lakers would like a do-over on

Lakers do-over No. 3: Signing Timofey Mozgov, 2016

We come to the final three, and there is a common thread connecting two of these moves. In the summer of 2016, a new television deal between the league and its network partners flooded the NBA’s coffers with money, and accordingly, the salary cap leaped up. It rose more than $24 million from one season to the next, granting nearly every team in the league cap space. That spike is how the Golden State Warriors signed Kevin Durant, and it also led to a number of teams handing out ridiculously large contracts to players who did not deserve it.

The Lakers saw the Memphis Grizzlies, Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards and New York Knicks handing out an exorbitant contract each and said “hold my craft beer,” handing out not only one but two massive contracts to players who clearly, at the time and absolutely with hindsight, did not deserve them.

It was something of a coin flip deciding between them, but Timofey Mozgov places third rather than second because the Lakers were ultimately able to move his deal. That contract in total was a four-year, $64 million contract for a player who never even averaged double-digit points or rebounds in a single season. Perhaps that is acceptable for the league’s best rim protector, but Mozgov was simply good in that area, never averaging more than 1.2 blocks per game.

In 2016-17 he averaged 7.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in just 20.4 minutes per contest. The Lakers went 26-56 despite their lavish summer spending, and the following summer immediately moved to offload Mozgov’s salary. They did so by attaching him to D’Angelo Russell in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets. He was out of the league by 2019.