2025-26 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

i think there's a sub-title ceiling on luka/41 year old lebron/AR as the engine, but i agree that if we had two more rotation players--one starting, one bench--who fit our needs, we're probably the 3-seed in the west and someone you're not excited to play.

but again, i don't see how we get those two players with what we have to offer.

edit: regarding losing lebron's talent--that's a real issue, but it was always going to happen. having it coincide with a time where we'll have 40+ million in cap space is your best chance at not suffering a catastrophic loss when he leaves/retires/suffers the career-ending injury. so anything that jeopardizes that...you just have to nail it. concerns me.

 

With this roster, the formula for success this year had to be dominant offense (Top 3 minimum) and middling defense (Top 15ish) that could get timely stops in high leverage moments. And at the beginning of the season we were seeing some of that! But we just don't have the depth to sustain anything close to that if guys are out, or if Luka isn't playing at his very best.

I think there's still a version of this season where Austin comes back, LeBron stays relatively healthy, those three guys gel into a dominant offense and all of a sudden we're an extremely tough out in the playoffs. Not a championship ceiling, but maybe a WCF if the matchups break right. But that would require everyone getting and staying healthy for the rest of the season and that doesn't really happen for anyone, not just us.

 

other elephant in the room is that lebron's unlikely to make it all year and through the playoffs. much like kawhi. clips are a feelgood story right now because kawhi has played at an all-nba level for 15 games in a row for the first time in like, 5 years.

 

interesting that sac was willing to move ellis just to get off derozan's partial guarantee. i'm sure that's not our price, but...

 

Especially if we do nothing now!! If we wait, the whole league will see that and figure they can skrew us when the time comes.

 

Agreed. It would make sense to me that our team build around Luka and AR would be similar to what Dallas did around Luka. At least we know that Austin and Luka can play together. I’m not sold on Ayton as our Center, due to his spans of lack of focus, but would be okay bringing him back on a reasonable deal if we don’t have a clear path to an upgrade this summer.

 

i'm not following the logic. if we don't do something now, we'll be more desperate?

i'm not sure that's true. if we take on salary now, and it doesn't work--we're stuck in the summer.

with nearly 50 million in cap room and the following guys locked in: luka/AR/laravia/ayton/smart/vando/thiero/knecht/2026 1st

the absolute worst outcome is you whiff on all FA targets, right? so then you eat one-year contracts for draft capital to help teams manage their cap and you return most of the team that went 10-4 to start this season.

that's why i say you really need to make sure you get a nice-fitting long-term piece if you're giving up the space. i'm all for it if it materializes, and there are some half-measures i could get behind (e.g., gabe/kleber for kcp), but i'm really reluctant to mess up the space plan.

 

Kuminga is fine
Jonathan Kuminga at 23

Explosive athlete (elite first step, vertical pop)
Real scoring upside (can get you 18–22 on a given night)
Can guard multiple positions physically
but with that b******* dynasty until Draymond is retired Kuminga isn't playing much
but not sure what Lakers can offer
GSW don't need either Gabe or Maxi

 

would need to be a three-teamer. if we really want kuminga, it seems like gs might just use him as an expiring to get someone they want. possible we could peel him off that other team with expirings in such a case.

i don't think it's insane to believe that playing opposite luka at the forward he could look pretty good.

 

If we can split our one tradeable first into a couple of lower-tier firsts that net us Ellis and Kuminga for the deadline...I'd be pretty stoked. The fit with Kuminga is questionable but we can at least get some better athleticism around Luka/Austin now to better assess what it looks like.

Agreed that GS doesn't want any of our expirings as players. Maybe Denver decides to move Cam Johnson now so they can pay Watson this summer. Johnson to GS, Kuminga to us, expirings and picks to Denver? That would be kind of a tough sell to Nuggets fans in terms of going all out to win it this season, but might be the right long-term move for them.

 

Ayton should be back based on the option in his contract which I’m good with.

Beyond that, I’d also like to see guys who fit with Luka and AR.

 

I agree with all of that, and certainly the Lakers' current state is not solely Rob's fault. He has definitely made some good moves, and I don't think he's a bad GM. But in my opinion, this team needs a major management overhaul, and it is necessary to build a strong, consolidated team working in the same direction, made up of the best specialists available. Can such a model be built around Rob, who has been part of the team for many years and has been, to a greater or lesser extent, part of the problem? I don't know.

Another problem is that we don't really know who was responsible for what, how much of the “vision” for building the team was really Rob's, which decisions he made on his own, and which were “imposed” on him. I assume that the new ownership group has much more knowledge on this subject and will make the right decisions, but from my perspective, even though I have defended him many times, Rob is part of the problem and I won't cry if he leaves, even if he's not first on my list to be let go.

 

i'm not going to cry if he leaves, despite what some think here. it's just tough to figure out what to do right now if your plan isn't to have rob on board.

like--he probably shouldn't be involved in any deadline decisions, right? because they affect the summer. if the plan all along was to drop him, why not do it right away?

last thing i want is a gm trading for his job right now!

 

It just depends on the long term vision with Kuminga. I don’t want us to end up in another situation with one of these guys where either
a) the guy is good like Monk or Goodwin but we can’t resign him because of >insert salary cap mumbo jumbo< or

b) we’ve got another guy who is okay but doesn’t really fit with our team or give us what we need but he puts up decent numbers so we’re hesitant to move him or

c) flat out dead weight that we can’t even move with their expiring contract.

Edit - basically anyone we bring in should be based on long term fit, not just moves to make a move.

 

You have to make moves when you are in the contention window. What else are you here for? The chip is the goal! Nothing is garunteed, if a deal presents itself that addresses your needs, you have to pull that trigger. I think it's unfathomable to even considering punting with Luka, Lebron and Austin..we damn sure aren't some kind of lock to have a better roster waiting until the summer.


This roster doesn't scare anybody.

with nearly 50 million in cap room and the following guys locked in: luka/AR/laravia/ayton/smart/vando/thiero/knecht/2026 1st

We won't have 50M in cap space after maxing Austin either, we have no salary to trade with, and all your eggs are in the FA pickup basket. I don't like that plan. I pan the making moves just because angle too. Rob has had enough time to know what he feels will upgrade our chances by the trade deadline, that's his damn job. Go get a player that fills a need NOW, with a contract that can be moved if needed, next season. I mean mean damn, if you can't make a decent mid level move, with what we have now. Why in the hell should I trust you to build up a lesser squad with a little cap space?

 

Los Angeles Lakers

What we're watching: A deadline dilemma in L.A.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47620890/nba-trade-deadline-10-teams-watch-lakers-warriors-bucks-mavs-C Bags-grizzlies-more#lal

 

This

No panic moves to put the roster in a bad financial position

 

You don't double down on a mistake, just because you are afraid of looking bad either. Hiring an inexperienced HC, when you expect to contend, might just be a bad idea. A new owner gives you a clean slate to move forward, without making these same mistakes. Mybe JJ just isn't ready for this caliber of job? He definitely doesn't deserve Carte Blanche, on having a few seasons in order to figure things out.

 

I get this and don’t disagree.