Updated Lakers Salary-Cap Space for FA After DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo Deals

Even though the Los Angeles Lakers missed out on forming a Big Three with Kawhi Leonard, their offseason has been a success with the addition of Anthony Davis to partner with LeBron James. 

As soon as ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Leonard committed to signing a four-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday morning, the Lakers went to work filling out the rest of their roster.

Wojnarowski reported Danny Green will sign a two-year, $30 million deal with the Lakers, and DeMarcus Cousins will receive $3.5 million for one year. Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes added Quinn Cook agreed to join the team on a two-year, $6 million contract. 

Per Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne, Rajon Rondo agreed to return to Los Angeles on a two-year deal. Shelburne reported Kentavious Caldwell-Pope agreed to a two-year contract worth $16 million to stay with the Lakers. 

With that flurry of activity, Spotrac estimates the Lakers have $128.8 million in total salary commitments for the 2019-20 season. That leaves them $19.7 million over the salary cap but with approximately $3.8 million available before hitting the tax threshold of $132.63 million. 

Lakers fans may be upset about not getting Leonard, but there are reasons to be optimistic about their short- and long-term futures. 

The most obvious reason to be excited about 2019-20 is James got his second superstar to play with. 

SB Nation's Michael Pina broke down why Davis is a perfect playing partner for James:

"But their most direct connection will be in the pick-and-roll. Davis induces a special brand of panic whenever he dives towards the basket. No pass is out of his reach, and halting whoever has the ball usually turns into the defense's secondary objective. But there's only so much a defense can do when James, who's impossible to stop downhill with one man, is the ball-handler. (LeBron finished 7.5 plays per game as a pick-and-roll ball-handler last season, up from the 5.2 he averaged over the previous three seasons, per NBA.com. Expect that number to go up a little bit.)"

Davis is also an outstanding defender. James has received criticism in recent years for his seeming indifference to playing on that side of the ball. 

If that duo plays up to its potential, especially with better role players such as Green able to help improve three-point shooting, the Lakers will be in the mix for one of the top seeds in the Western Conference. 

Looking at the long-term planning, general manager Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss deserve credit for how they structured these deals. They don't have any guaranteed contracts after the 2020-21 season. 

Some of that could change as soon as next summer, assuming Davis signs an extension to remain in Los Angeles. James has a $41 million player option for 2021-22. 

Using RealGM projections, the salary cap for 2021-22 will be $125 million with a tax threshold of $151 million. 

Sam Quinn of 247Sports noted Davis' salary if he signs an extension next summer could be $35.4 million. Factoring in yearly escalators, it could be reasonable to estimate the Lakers will pay their star duo around $80 million. 

That would still leave them with $45 million in cap space. The free-agent market in two years could include Giannis Antetokounmpo, CJ McCollum, Rudy Gobert, Bradley Beal and Victor Oladipo. 

Much was written about the Lakers' failures of the 2018-19 season, but the front office quickly turned the narrative around by adding Davis. Their roster is in much better shape heading into next season with the possibility to be major players in what could be the next great free-agent class in the summer of 2021.