A long-awaited relief: Lakers no longer have to pay money to Luol Deng / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: AP - Scanpix Credit AP - Scanpix

One of the most famous contracts in recent NBA history has come to an end. The Los Angeles Lakers can now relax - the team has finally finished paying Luol Deng.

Luol Deng

Position:SFAge:36Height:206 cmWeight:100 kgBirth place:Vau, SudanProfileNewsStatistics

The British forward signed a shiny 4-year $72 million contract in 2016 with the club. With Kobe Bryant retired, Deng was supposed to be the veteran presence that would help the young pieces get accustomed to the NBA.

In order to open up some salary space, the contract was restructured in 2018 for two additional seasons, meaning the Lakers had to pay Deng not four, but six years up until the end of this current 2021-2022 season.

Due to the nature of the deal (the stretch provision to spread the final $15 million of his contract over 3 years), the team had to pay the player even when he was not a part of the team. When Deng signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2018, the Lakers had to pay him. When Deng retired in 2019, the Lakers had to pay him.

Each of the last three years Deng received a $5 million salary to his account. Interestingly, Deng was the 5th highest-paid Laker this season even though he's been retired for several seasons. Only Russell Westbrook ($44.2 million), LeBron James ($41.2 million), Anthony Davis ($35.4 million), and Talen Horton-Tucker ($5 million) were earning more than Deng this season.

Being of South Sudanese descent, Deng recently coached the South-Sudanese national basketball team in the AfroBasket 2021 last summer.

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