How the Lakers could gain access to the taxpayer midlevel exception

With only $45,000 to spare below the second apron, the Lakers must dump significant salary to gain access to the taxpayer MLE this offseason.

The Lakers currently find themselves $45,001 below the NBA’s $188.9 million second apron. If they somehow crossed that line, they wouldn’t be allowed to aggregate contracts in trades if they finished the deal over the second apron, among a bevy of other restrictions.

As a first apron team, the Lakers aren’t...