10 bold predictions for 2017-18 NBA season

10. The Los Angeles Lakers have a fire sale at the trade deadline

This is probably the least bold prediction of the bunch, but with the Los Angeles Lakers already shipping off D’Angelo Russell to get someone to take on Timofey Mozgov‘s contract, there’s still work to be done to clear out room for two max contracts in next summer’s loaded free agency class.

Brook Lopez, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Corey Brewer are all free agents this summer, so the only thing the Lakers will have to worry about is their cap holds until they sign with another team. However, Luol Deng‘s albatross of a contract (two years and $36.8 million after this season) needs to be dealt elsewhere.

In order to do so, prospective buyers will be asking for sweeteners of some sort, whether that’s a future first round pick or one of the team’s younger talents like Julius Randle, Ivica Zubac, Larry Nance Jr. and especially Jordan Clarkson, who is owed $25.9 million from 2018-20.

Randle is a restricted free agent next summer, Zubac may not get to prove himself behind Lopez and Andrew Bogut this year and Clarkson hasn’t shown his ceiling to be much higher than inefficient sixth man. With the Lakers desperate to move Deng and become active players in free agency, everyone outside of Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram could be for sale by the trade deadline.