Photo: Los Angeles Lakers/Twitter

Jovan Buha of The Athletic speculates big man Mo Bamba and small forward Malik Beasley won’t be back with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“The two players it’s appearing won’t be back are Mo Bamba and Malik Beasley, if only because of their contracts,” Buha wrote. “With the aforementioned six names expected to return, the Lakers would be at around $120 million to $125 million – depending on the salary of [Rui] Hachimura – in salary before factoring in cap holds or empty roster charges.

“Add Bamba’s $10.3 million non-guaranteed salary and Beasley’s $16.5 million team option, and they’re pushing $150-plus million with just eight players – and that’s before including free agents like [D’Angelo] Russell, [Dennis] Schröder or [Lonnie] Walker.”