What’s clear from Las Vegas, however, is that many in NBA circles believe the Lakers must upgrade their roster to have a chance at a deep playoff run. In polling more than a dozen front-office executives, coaches, scouts and agents attending the NBA Summer League, most pegged the Lakers as a likely Play-In team, with seeds ranging from fifth to 10th in the West. None view the team’s current version as capable of winning a championship. Several noted a lack of two-way wings and the hole at backup center behind Davis as reasons for pessimism.
Most notably, almost all expect the Lakers to make a trade at some point ahead of the Feb. 7, 2025 trade deadline.
The Lakers’ inactivity has not been due to a lack of trying. They struck out with
Klay Thompson, were unable to land other impact free agents like
Jonas Valančiūnas and
DeMar DeRozan, and have failed thus far to find common ground in trade talks with Portland, Brooklyn, Utah,
Toronto and Orlando. Now, according to league and team sources, the Lakers are expected to remain patient in their quest to improve their roster.
One of the reasons the Lakers have been unable to make any signings and had to explore trades is that four roster holdovers who were given second-year player options last summer —
D’Angelo Russell,
Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes and
Cam Reddish — opted in due to their performances last season and the tight free-agent market. The latter three players, in particular, and the presence of developmental projects like
Jalen Hood-Schifino,
Maxwell Lewis and Bronny James, have created a rough backend to the Lakers’ roster. The team has several players who appear unlikely to contribute meaningfully next season and wouldn’t be in the rotations of most playoff teams.
As things stand, the Lakers have a full roster of 15 players with guaranteed contracts. They’re also roughly $45,000 under the second apron of nearly $189 million. That combination means they can’t sign any players in free agency or add any additional players (or salary) in any trades. They have two first-round picks to trade (2029 and 2031), as well as multiple first-round swaps and second-round picks.
The most straightforward way the Lakers can add talent is to make a consolidation trade. They can either send out more players than they receive in a deal or salary-dump Reddish, Wood and/or Hayes, along with a second-round pick or two, onto a team with roster and financial flexibility. If the Lakers traded two minimum players (Wood, Hayes and Reddish would qualify), they’d have enough room under the second apron to sign a player to the $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception. They could also add a player in a trade or sign player(s) to minimum contracts.
www.nytimes.com
