The Los Angeles Lakers traded up the No. 40 spot in the NBA Draft from No. 47 in order to select Pepperdine guard/forward Maxwell Lewis, a rangy three-and-D wing prototype that could be a contributor in his rookie season.
He joins Jalen Hood-Schifino and Colin Castleton as potential impact pieces for the Lakers in 2023-24. Hood-Schifino, as a first-round pick, will get a fully guaranteed four-year contract with the Lakers. But Lewis, as a second-rounder, had to negotiate a deal of his own.
The Lakers have reportedly agreed to terms on a deal with Lewis that spans four years with an opportunity to get him to free agency earlier, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac:
Maxwell Lewis signed with the Los Angeles Lakers via the Second Round Pick Exception, a league source told @spotrac.
First two seasons are fully guaranteed. Third season is partially guaranteed, with a late-June full guarantee date. Final season is a team option & non-guaranteed.— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 11, 2023
This contract takes advantage of a brand new rule in the recently-agreed-upon iteration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Prior to July 2023, second-round and undrafted rookies could only sign two-year deals if they were for the minimum amount.
Teams worked around this by dipping into other exceptions — usually their mid-level exception — to give rookies longer contracts. But Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka usually opted to give rookies like Talen Horton-Tucker, Austin Reaves and Max Christie the minimum.
Now, thanks to the new CBA, teams can give minimum deals for longer than two years to second-round or undrafted rookies. In this case, the Lakers chose to give Lewis a four-year deal that still preserves their flexibility after his second season.
The first two seasons are fully guaranteed, followed by a partially guaranteed third season and a team option on the fourth. This gives the Lakers two opportunities to move away from Lewis without incurring any long-term costs.
Darvin Ham believes Lakers can win championship
While the Lakers work on developing their rookies, they can also focus on a championship chase in 2023-24 with a strong team filled with versatile veterans. Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was excited about the prospect of competing for a title with this group.
“Hell yeah; without question. “That’s what we’re in it for,” Ham told Mark Medina of The Sporting Tribune. “We’re about winning around here and winning big. It’s not just about, ‘Hey we made the playoffs.’ We’re trying to get to that
pinnacle and conquer it.”
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