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

I believe the BAE is only useable once every 2 years and we used it for Smart so it won’t be available till 2027.

 

There isn't any hard evidence, that Reaves/Luka actually works in the playoffs IMO. It's all HOPE and wishes thus far. It's going to be a very interesting summer coming up. We have all kinds of decisions to make, a lot of them based off of projections not proven facts. So Watson and Elliss are upgrades? Based off of what exactly? Advanced analytics? What have either ever done in the playoffs? I mean we move forward expecting to compete for Championships..not winning 50 games and making a playoffs appearance.

I'm just going to enjoy, what we can do right now.. I HOPE Rob has an offseason plan, that hasn't been discussed at all on this message board frankly. We have all this cap space, and draft picks, we passed on making deals for a reason, so let's see what Pelinka has in mind. It better be good. I'm open to whatever...we still got Luka...the only untouchable on this team.

 

Okay, so cap room probably the best option. I'm still on board with negotiating a sign and trade for Watson at the beginning of free agency. But since Watson is a Klutch client, Lebron could say go ahead and use the other 18-24 million on Marcus and another free agent. If they don't match on Watson, I'll take the room exception. Watson recently signed with Klutch. Hes from Long Beach. I feel like there could be something there.

 

i've been thinking the opposite, actually. watson's still in the "showing flashes" stage, while cam johnson righted the ship since his return from injury and looks like exactly what they wanted when they traded for him. if i were them, i would trade watson for a first and a big TE. now, again, they REALLY don't want to send him here, but if he were to say he wants to play here and will sign a big RFA offer with us and won't accept a S&T elsewhere, this can happen.

agree. he's playing great right now, but he's 41. you don't want to be holding the bag when he runs out of gas--and you don't want that big being an expensive one, nor do you want to be in the position where he just walks in retirement and you lose a 25m salary slot because you're already over the cap (which we will be).

we do if he plays at a discount. and i find it super weird that fans and the media all think he's going to take these discounts for cleveland and golden state but not us. if he does, fine. but i don't see why. he can't argue he's been treated poorly here. that would be garbage.

it's not even a room mle if we run it back. we'd just operate over the cap, thus possibly losing smart and trying to replace him with the tpmle, lol.

i really don't think we're running it back. march was fun. game 1 was fun. but november was also fun.

i'm not too wrapped up in beating any one team. denver plays totally differently than okc and SA, and they're a legit threat, too. we just need to be better. we need four really good players to play with luka and reaves. are smart and lebron at that level? yes, imo. we still need two more on top of that. getting that in the offseason isn't possible but i think getting to three isn't. moreover, we just need two-way guys who fit with luka and reaves, and that means we go heavy on athleticism and lighter on ballhandling/shot creation when looking for players.

luka and reaves are my only keepers, but i'd of course like to have smart, kennard, hayes, and laravia back--but i want them to be my 5th-9th players, not my 3rd-6th, lol.

 

I get nervous about making sideway moves. We may not be sure exactly what AR brings to playoff basketball but our worries go both ways. I could easily see us trading him and he hits another gear on the new team, while the trade doesn't pan out with our new guy as much as we hoped it would. Whatever. I am currently praying we get one year to see how AR and Luka do together. I hope we build the right team around these guys and then decide. I think there is, at least, a reasonable chance that they can do really good together.

 

yeah, not to beat a dead horse, but if the aspiration thing is allowed to go unpunished, i think we can convince smart to opt in. i'm certain someone would love to have him endorse their children's book series to the tune of a second BAE, lol.

 

Space Jam 3 anyone?

 

Agree with most, good thoughts.

On Watson, it's a fair view. I just don't see a lot in Cam, every time I watch him he just seems... meh. Noticed it this year, recently in last game and the SAS x DEN a couple weeks ago.
I just think if Watson is 'that good' with a #3 option moving forward (as we are potentially paying him to be), I'd want to keep that guy, even if he's to be traded later, he would be a great asset.

And yeah, I see no reason why he wouldn't be excited with a potential long contract with us, it's a great fit for both.
An interesting one to follow this summer

On this "moreover, we just need two-way guys who fit with luka and reaves, and that means we go heavy on athleticism and lighter on ballhandling/shot creation when looking for players."

Agree 1000%. Which is why I think Bron needs to go.
And yeah, no team he signs for will pay him more than the MLE, it's just how the cap works. So he has no leverage. Paying him more than that is either because we stroke out of all our options or we are doing him a "favor" and not being really serious about building the best team for Luka, either case it's a bad sign, imo

 

yeah, only thing i'll say is that i probably like cam johnson a bit more than you do. like, if denver offered him into our space so they could keep watson, i'd take it gladly. my fear is denver gets a first from chicago for johnson and then pays watson. we'd still have options, but that would hurt.

i trust that rob (and hopefully his new helpers) have already gamed out a lot of these things, though. and my guess is that a lot of gms/agents already have some ideas about how some of this will go down.

same with these second apron teams (okc, denver, cleveland, orlando)--their gms have known this was coming, so they should have some ideas ready. i'll be very curious to see what the first domino will be (probably will happen around the draft) and if the giannis thing will hold everything up (ugh).

in the meantime, i'll try to enjoy watching us play the underdog role for a couple weeks here!

 

The only player I see the Lakers letting walk is Rui or a sign and trade.I don’t believe the Lakers are as far away as the rest of you do.I believe they just need to upgrade their bench.

 

Frankly I don’t get why we should get rid of LeBron. I really don’t… he is 41, ok… but he is playing at an All NBA level once again. I don’t see any 3rd options better than him and he can scale to a 1st or 2nd options on offense when required for stretches. Defensively this has been his best season for a while.

If we argue that he only has a year or two left, I get it. But it’s up to the front office to figure out how to create cap slots with bird rights that we can trade to refresh the team when he goes.

For me I’m trying to get Watson because he solves a huge amount of issues in our starting lineup. Even if he is what he is now, he is a tertiary scorer, good rebounder, good shooter and a great defender. That’s a huge improvement on Rui. But at the same time I’m trying to retain LeBron, Smart and Kennard.

More importantly, than letting LeBron go, is how we use our 16.5m of dead space from Vando and Knecht and return a 20m piece with 2 firsts. Josh Hart would be an excellent pickup if the Knicks go in for Giannis.

Luka / Kennard (room) / Bronny
Reaves / Smart (opt in)
Watson (30m RFA) / Hart (trade)
Lebron (20m) / Jake / Adou
Ayton (opt in) / Hayes (min) / Kleber (min)

 

I don’t understand this comment? What’s your suggestion when you say we only trade for proven facts? How does that even work? We trade for SGA and Chet? Or Jamal and Jokic? Or Tatum and Derrick White?

Every team is trying to build for the future with what they project that’s what the game is all about.

 

Yeah I've said this before, you need a 2b type guy that can scale up to the #2 role if (when) you run into a bad matchup for Austin. Like if we get into a playoff series with the Spurs, you can't just spam Austin high P&Rs if Castle is chasing him over screens and Wemby is playing drop, or if they're just switching Wemby onto him. Austin is not going to consistently generate good offense under those circumstances unless he becomes substantially more matchup resilient. Same thing with the OKC match up. So I completely agree that we need someone like Watson, whom I'd describe as a "role player plus" in a similar vein as Aaron Gordon or Anunoby, and/or to keep LeBron around.

Basically, the core question that will guide our roster building over the next few years is how good is Austin exactly. If he turns into a matchup-proof offensive engine in his own right, then yeah just give me a bunch of guys that will defend and either stand in the corner or stand in the dunker spot. But if he's a step below that, which is what I think he is right now and is probably his ceiling given athletic limitations, you need more than that.

 

Yeah, it would be ideal to get something for that. The Knicks might actually want a 1st or two from us, because the only have the 2026 (after drafting it), and the 2033 (Officially on July 1st) available for trade. However, I don't think Hart is worth two firsts. He's solid though. I would try to make it one 1st, or for Bridges.

Example:

Lakers get: Bridges

Knicks get: Giannis, Vando, Knecht

Bucks get: Anunoby, 26 Lakers 1st, 26 Knicks 1st, 31 Lakers 1st, 33 Knicks 1st

Lakers could then sign Smart for 12-million, Lebron for 16-million, Thybulle for about 8-million, and Kennard for the Room-Exception.

Lakers significantly improve their perimeter defense and depth, without hurting their 3-point shooting. Bridges is a huge upgrade over Rui. Thybulle is a huge upgrade over Knecht.

 

I agree with you. I think Reaves needs to develop his off ball game to counteract teams that can slow him down as the on ball guy. Can he spot up and hit shots at a high rate, can he improve cutting, can he catch the ball on the weak side and attack?

Peyton Watson has improved a lot as a ball handler and could play make as secondary option. I'd love to have him and Lebron for next year.

 

I like Bridges but I think he has regressed over the last few years. He is an ironman and a decent shooter and good defender - but he tends to disappear as a 5th option a little too much for me. Whereas, Hart is kind of the ultimate glue guy, he is like a mini Draymond and just shape shifts into what you need. If I could, I'd take Hart over Bridges even though it's not as sexy a move.

Lakers: Hart, NYK 2nd

NYK: Giannis & Knecht

Bucks: OG, Vando, 2 LAL 1sts, 2 NYK 1sts

We add 4.3m in salary adding Hart. Technically he is worth the first, and then we pay a first to get out of Vando and get a second back. NYK gets Giannis and a shooter, Bucks get 4 firsts and OG they can probably flip for another 2.

Hart would be my 6th man.

1: Luka
2: Reaves
3: Lebron
4: Watson
5: Ayton
6: Hart
7: Smart
8: Kennard
9: Hayes
10: vet min
11: Adou
12: Bronny
13: Kleber
14: Development Player

 

LeBron is going to get paid what he is worth if it’s here or somewhere else. I don’t see how adding Watson while losing LeBron,Kennard,Rui makes them better.Throwing the baby out with the bath water if you ask me.
Keeping the team together mostly and upgrading the bench does make them better IMO

 

What do you think Lebron can get on the open market? And what do you think we should pay him?

 

I believe if the Lakers decide they don’t want him they will help him with a sign and trade because the Lakers have a history of taking care of super stars.The only way he doesn’t get his 20 million is if nobody else wants him which would be strange considering how well he is still playing