Photo Credit: Ron Jenkins / Associated Press
The Lakers Are Finally Done Paying Luol Deng An Annual Salary
Luol Deng is a two time All-Star, and was part of an NBA All-Defensive team in 2012. Unfortunately for him, his days of his professional career are behind him, yet he still had one of the best contracts in the entire NBA.
In 2016, Deng signed a four-year, $72 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, who wanted to add Deng’s veteran skills in an attempt to stay competitive after Kobe Bryant’s retirement.
When the Lakers went through some front office changes, Deng basically lost his role on the team, because Magic Johnson wanted to give the majority of playing time to the team’s younger players.
But Deng, who’s long retired, still has been in the Lakers’ books until the official end of the season yesterday, because of the stretch provision (Deng and the Lakers agreed to pay his contract over 8 years instead of 4 when they waived him). Not only this, Deng made a whooping $5,000,000 this year – making him the team’s 5th best paid player, without ever setting foot on a court or practice facility.
In his entire Lakers career, Deng played 57 games, meaning he’s earned $1,263,158 for each game he has played.
Deng currently is in a new position as the president of the basketball federation of South Sudan.
