<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> EL SEGUNDO - With the draft behind them, the Lakers turn their attention to what may really decide the makeup of the team next season: the free agent market. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak and his staff will start poring over free agents and looking to see if they can make trades to fix their unbalanced roster, as well as review the contracts of two players in particular, Brian Grant and Vlade Divac. It won't be an easy job, trying to turn around a team that went 34-48 last season and missed the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons. The Lakers' draft picks, center Andrew Bynum in the first round and power forward Ronny Turiaf and guard Von Wafer in the second round, are unlikely to be immediate contributors. Starting Friday, teams can begin negotiating with free agents, though they can't sign until July 23. The Lakers can throw the midlevel exception of about $5 million at a player and the veteran's exception of about $1.7 million. "We'll be active in free agency," Kupchak said. The list of unrestricted free agents, however, isn't overwhelming. One of the better players, power forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim, probably will seek more than the Lakers have to offer. Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who has been known to bring in former players, may be interested in unrestricted free agent forward Toni Kukoc. But Kukoc will be 37 years old in September. The Lakers may benefit from a clause in the new collective bargaining agreement that allows a team a one-time provision to release a high-salaried player, thus not having that player's salary count against the luxury tax. Given that, the Lakers might be inclined to waive Grant, who is due to earn almost $30 million over the next two seasons. Grant's salary would still count against the team's salary cap, but they wouldn't have to pay the $30 million tax on his salary over the next two seasons. If the Lakers do waive Grant, who had a down season in averaging 3.8 points and 3.7 rebounds last season, they would miss having a big body in the paint and still would be over the salary cap. The Lakers also could end up almost $20 million over the luxury tax if they used both of their exceptions after they sign their draft picks. </div> Source
