Then the Lakers will hold Clarkson's "early Bird" rights, creating a complicated set of scenarios, four in all.
1) The first is simple, and unlikely. Clarkson could accept the team's qualifying offer of up to $2.7 million for 2016-17 but would be a restricted free agent once again after that season.
2) The Lakers can re-sign Clarkson via his early Bird rights for up to four years and roughly $25 million. This option could help the Lakers preserve spending power for other free agents, but wouldn't be as lucrative a choice for the player.
3) Clarkson can be brought back using the Lakers' valuable cap space. A maximum contract for four years could amount to more than $95 million. In this scenario, Clarkson eats up roughly $22 million of the team's spending power in 2016 — instead of the $2.7-million qualifying offer. This path greatly limits the Lakers' flexibility in shopping for other players.
4) Because of a quirk in the rules, often referred to as the "Gilbert Arenas provision," other franchises are limited to signing Clarkson as a restricted free agent to a four-year offer sheet as high as $57 million. The limitation on what other teams can offer Clarkson decidedly puts the Lakers in the driver's seat, should re-signing him at a high dollar amount become the priority.
Whatever the decision with Clarkson, the timing is crucial as the franchise looks to re-establish itself as a power in the Western Conference.
