Anthony Davis Trade Expected to Be Completed July 6th But One Big Question Remains

The NBA scales tipped on Monday when Anthony Davis was shipped to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package that included Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and pile of first-round picks.

The question that still remains, however, is how much cash the Lakers will be able to spend to fill out the rest of their roster.

The New Orleans Pelicans currently hold all the cards when it comes to the Lakers' roster flexibility given that the trade is expected to be completed July 6. If that's indeed the case, the Lakers would lose out on an opportunity to open up another max salary spot they could've had if they waited until July 31 to complete the deal.

With less than a "true" max salary spot to work with -- they can cross their fingers and hope AD waives his trade kicker -- the Lakers will need to be creative in filling out the remaining spots on their roster. There are a lot of good role players on the market this year, and the Lakers have a convincing pitch to sell players on joining LeBron in Los Angeles.

Pat Beverley, Al Horford, Jimmy Butler, and Bobby Portis are among those rumored to be potential free agent targets for the Lakers. Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson surely rate highly on their boards as well, but their chances of landing either player can't be considered very high.

Couple $23 million in cap space with the allure of playing in LA, and the Lakers might just be able to surround LeBron and AD with enough talent to make a run in the Western Conference this year. But there's much work still to be done.