The first big shock of free agency came just after midnight on Friday. The Lakers had agreed to a four-year $64 million contract with Timofey Mozgov. That’s right, $64 million for Timofey Mozgov. Mozgov averaged 6.3 points per game and 4.4 rebounds last year with the Cavaliers. And this year in the playoffs Mozgov didn’t do much, only having 15 points throughout the entire postseason. He played a big role two years ago with Cleveland but found his role diminished big time this past season.
Nate Duncan, an NBA writer for The Cauldron, said him and other staff members did a mock offseason with all of the free agents, and in that mock offseason, Mozgov got a one year, eight million dollar contract. For some reason, the Lakers feel as is Mozgov is worth $16 million per year. It seemed crazy when two years ago the Cavaliers traded two first round picks for Mozgov. But this deal is even crazier. It seems like some teams just really overvalue him. But with the Cavs, the picks will likely be late first round picks. With getting $16 million per season Mozgov is going to have a lot of pressure on him to perform to make the money worth it. Especially in Los Angeles.
This move does fill a need for the Lakers. With Roy Hibbert being a free agent they needed a new center. And now that new center will be Mozgov. He will slot in the starting lineup alongside Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram and Jordan Clarkson. Clarkson was a restricted free agent and the Lakers agreed to a four-year $50 million contract with him. Even if he signed somewhere else, the Lakers were likely to match the offer. So the odds of Clarkson leaving the Lakers weren’t very high. Now the Lakers better hope Mozgov at least becomes a productive center for them with that contract.