CBS Sports - NBA offseason winners and losers: Lakers have seemingly struck out

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We reserved judgment on the Lakers' summer for as long as we could, but it's finally time to state what is becoming increasingly obvious: L.A. has seemingly struck out on virtually all its summer targets. We'll see whether some Trae Young rumors can get fired back up (and I'm sure they will), but for now, as we'll detail below, with DeMar DeRozan likely out of the picture, the Lakers look like they're going to be the musical-chairs team left standing.

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Loser: Los Angeles Lakers
We keep hearing about this (air quotes) third star they're looking to bring in, but forget a star; the Lakers are striking out on role players. Klay Thomson told them no, and he had every reason to end his career in Los Angeles, where he was born and where his dad won two championships and still serves as a Lakers radio commentator.

LeBron James practically dared Rob Pelinka to get something significant done by saying he would consider taking a pay cut in the neighborhood of $20 million on the first year of his most recent deal if it meant the Lakers could finally add that third big piece, but that offer went out the window Wednesday morning when James inked a two-year, $104 million deal.

That puts the Lakers past the dreaded second apron ($188.9M in total payroll), which largely cripples roster construction in various ways. For one, it basically rules out DeRozan, who was seen as really the last hope at salvaging the summer.

In fact, the Lakers would have to get not just below the second apron, but the first apron ($178.1M) if they wanted to add DeRozan on a sign-and-trade, which triggers a first-apron hard cap. To do that, at this point, LeBron would have to basically scrap this contract and go back to the whole discount idea, which doesn't seem likely or else he wouldn't have bothered signing this one in the first place.

Without a major change to LeBron's reported new contract, the Lakers would have to involve D'Angelo Russell in the sign-and-trade and then go looking for other places to trim even more salary to squeeze DeRozan in under the first apron. It's just not likely. Not impossible, but not likely.

So here the Lakers are with two of their three biggest additions of the summer being their coach and LeBron's kid. The third one is Dalton Knecht, who fell to them at No. 17 and, as a guy that many had projected to go in the top 10, could end up being one of the draft's biggest steals.

But suffice it to say, Knecht is not swinging the Lakers' fortunes one way or the other. At this point, probably nobody still out there is. I can assure you we'll keep hearing Trae Young rumors, and maybe they will get him eventually. I don't necessarily thing that would even be a win, but at least with a player of that caliber we could come back to the offseason evaluation table. Until then, the Lakers have gotten worse, if only, at best, by staying the same.

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