Los Angeles Lakers: 2016 Offseason Grades

Mozzy To The Max

With the NBA salary cap skyrocketing from $70 million last year to a projected $94 million this season, it was only a matter of time before the basketball world got its first look at how quickly new contracts would seem like drastic overpays.

Go figure it’d be the Lakers who supplied that first icebreaker, agreeing to shovel out a four-year, $64 million deal to center Timofey Mozgov. Unfortunately for Los Angeles, the first deal of this summer’s NBA free agency still looks bad after the dust has settled more than a month later.

First reaction? This was a massive overpay for a guy who was replaced by Tristan Thompson as the team’s starting center midway through the season and was virtually unused off the bench during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ championship run.

Last season, Mozgov averaged 6.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 17.4 minutes per game — down from the 10.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 25.0 minutes per game he averaged in his 46 appearances with the Cavs in 2014-15.

However, Mozgov is not totally worthless either, especially to a team that has a definitive need at the center spot with Hibbert gone and Zubac being a 19-year-old rookie.

On a championship-caliber team like Cleveland that had little margin for error while facing a historic 73-win team this year, sure, Mozgov’s value depreciated faster than Subway stock after Jared Fogle got arrested.

But Tyronn Lue‘s midseason promotion to head coach and Mozzy’s early injury problems led to his demotion to bench duty, and with Thompson being able to man the 5-spot, everyone forgot about what Mozgov brought to the table. He played a grand total of 25 minutes in the NBA Finals as the Cavs rallied from their 3-1 deficit to win the title.

The fact that Pau Gasol was reportedly open to a return to the Lakers probably doesn’t help matters either.

However, the Lakers are not a championship-caliber team that has to worry about how Mozgov matches up with the small-ball Warriors. With marquee free agents like Durant and Hassan Whiteside refusing to even take meetings with the Lakers, this prestigious franchise decided to stop chasing giants and address a position of need.

They accomplished that mission by swooping in for Mozgov, and though $16 million seems like a huge chunk of change to fork over, it’s only 17 percent of the cap for the upcoming season. Last season, that percentage would’ve been equivalent to an $11.9 million salary, and in 2017-18, when the cap jumps to a projected $110 million, it’ll only be 14.5 percent (equivalent to $10.1 million last year).

Still, was there really any need to go all in on a center like Timofey Mozgov? Was anyone beating down the Bosnian Bear’s door to sign him to a more competitive offer? Was there really any reason to splurge like this in the first hour of the first night of free agency?

The Lakers had to spend their cap space somewhere, but even paying the equivalent of $11.9 million a year under last year’s cap feels like a steep price for a guy who averaged 1.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 5.8 minutes per game during Cleveland’s last playoff run.

There’s also the problem of trying to cram a round peg in a square hole. Just because the Lakers needed a center doesn’t mean Mozgov is necessarily a good fit. Can anyone on this team defend a pick-and-roll between the youngsters and Mozzy, who struggles out in space on the perimeter?

Four years is a long time to commit to a 29-year-old center who may have already reached his peak, especially since he doesn’t fit in with any of the youngster’s timelines.

Mozgov might provide some rim protection and rebounding for a young Lakers team that needs it, and this deal hardly interferes with the franchise’s internal development, but even with the expanding salary cap, this was quite a reach.

Grade: D-

Next: Keeping Clarkson