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The Los Angeles Lakers had to watch one of the best available restricted free agents drop off the market. Tobias Harris has agreed to a four-year, $64 million contract with the Orlando Magic, reports Shams Charania of Real GM. Harris may not have been attainable, as the Magic paid top-dollar to keep their 22-year-old forward in the fold.
The Lakers still await the official decision from LaMarcus Aldridge and have yet to make any free agent signings.
Tobias would have been a good piece to integrate with the core being put together, but Orlando will continue developing their young forward. Reports were conflicting about whether or not the Magic would match a big offer sheet, but they went out and re-signed him to bypass that scenario.
The talent pool has slimmed down to next to nothing but players that were formerly on the Lakers last season, restricted free agents, and veteran's minimum level players. That's not a good sign for the Lakers, who have a roster to fill out and need to show improvement as a basketball team. There's still the possibility of the front office using the available cap space to absorb a contract -- like Roy Hibbert, David Lee, or others that are still under wraps -- while also attaining an asset. The Lakers made a similar move last summer when they acquired Jeremy Lin and the Houston Rockets' '15 first-round draft pick.
Harris may have never been in play, but with him off the table, there seem to be few avenues for the Lakers to add talent as they head into a fresh season.