The Los Angeles Lakers are set to sign veteran guard Marcus Smart after he agreed to a buyout of his contract with the Washington Wizards. Smart, who was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the 2022-23 season, will reportedly sign a two-year, $11 million deal with the Lakers once he officially clears waivers.
Right now, they don’t have enough space under the first apron of the NBA’s salary cap to sign Smart. But according to Shams Charania of ESPN, they’re planning on waiving guard Shake Milton in order to clear some space.
“The Lakers plan to waive guard Shake Milton to create the roster spot to sign Smart, sources told ESPN,” Charania wrote. “Milton’s $3 million contract for next season would have become fully guaranteed Sunday.”
Milton was thrown into the deal that brought Los Angeles forward Dorian Finney-Smith in late December. He played sporadically afterward and averaged 3.9 points on 43.3% field-goal shooting, 1.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 11.5 minutes a game as a member of the team.
Waiving him would open up a good portion of L.A.’s bi-annual exception. In order to open up the full bi-annual exception of $5.1 million, another move, such as waiving guard Jordan Goodwin or a consolidation trade, would need to be made.
