Lakers' Petition to Remove Luol Deng's Salary from Books Reportedly Denied

Aaron Gash/Associated Press

The Los Angeles Lakers will not receive any relief for the salary owed to small forward Luol Deng through 2022.

According to Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic, the Lakers' application to exclude Deng's salary from this year's salary cap was denied by the NBA. Deng has not played since the 2018-19 season and retired in 2019.

The Lakers were applying for a career-ending injury exclusion.

Deng is owed $4.9 million each of the next two seasons before he's off the Lakers' books. He originally signed with L.A. for $72 million over four years in 2016. He appeared in just 57 games for the Lakers while averaging 7.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Los Angeles' active cap is at $93.45 million but is expected to rise significantly once a new deal with forward Anthony Davis is completed, per Spotrac.

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