2026-27 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

Yeah, agree.

I'm hoping things workout this year, and I'll go catch a few games this year. We'll see. I have to go to Charolotte at some point for business; thinking of arranging that when the Lakers play and catching a Charlotte game.

 

Didn't see this posted yet.

 

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/286590/Dorian-Finney-Smith-Unlikely-To-Play-For-Hornets

Wouldn't mind him back for the min to fill out the wings a bit

 

I kind of feel like we've got that one and just need to announce in some kind of weird order based on some weird rule in the CBA, but we will see.

Yeah, I'm not sure who we would pivot to unless another guy gets bought out.

 

70M and a PO for the win …. stoopid Rob ….. errrr … never mind.

 

Cool man. Definitely let me know.

 

i'm hopeful. i could also see it as atlanta is just trying to field better offers. our nuclear fallback plan could probably clear enough space to just sign kuminga outright (send seconds with knecht and laravia to teams with space/exceptions, stretch/waive vando), but it would be preferable to do this via trade to preserve bird rights and potentially avoid the stretch/waive.

though part of me wonders if kuminga might prefer to just sign outright in that case, as there would be no path to a second year PO, as S&Ts require three years, and POs can only happen on the third. so the cap space route could yield a two-year 35 million dollar deal (need to check those numbers, though--might be lower with vet min cap holds) with a PO on the second. the catch is we'd only have non-bird rights, so if he blew up, we lose him to a team with space.

guessing the real holdup is trying to get that first year salary even larger by combining hardy/knecht/laravia into some sort of multi-team deal. that seems unlikely, but could get the starting salary close to what kuminga lost when the hawks used the team option.

 

Having any expectations to "contend" seems unrealistic to me. Since many months ago. We severely rebuild the whole roster with 50M in cap space and 2 stars locked. Every contender has years playing together and multiple moves across multiple seasons to build their contending team. It was always going to be a tough process

Now, I do want to be in the best possible position. I want to have a good team that can have a punchers chance if some luck comes our way. I want to see a building block where 4-6 players seem legit and you can see you're 1-2 guys away. If we get a good 4, I think we get close to that and then it's up to JJ

Yeah me too. Kinda worried with it because our moves have usually been secret and Kuminga rumours have been going for a while.
Kuminga is clearly the standout option.

As alternatives we may play with smaller guys that are more 3s than 4s. Spurs do it with Vassell or OKC with Caruso or Dort. That can be Ziaire, Agbaji or Tate. A couple fringe 4 options are Yabusele or Prosper. I'd like to add any of these 5 on top of Kuminga too.

We may also trade for someone we aren't aware too

This contract is insane for Mitchell.

 

I was thinking back to the Ayton situation last summer. We went into that offseason with a non-existent center rotation. Ayton was a bit of a question mark but given his youth, upside, physical profile, our lack of spending power, the complete lack of any viable backup options in free agency, he seemed to be the ONLY option.

I couldn’t imagine that we actually had no backup options and were purely at the whims of Ayton. That he might have realistically chosen another team and we’d have no choice to pivot to something atrocious like having to rely on Hayes and small ball or the skeleton of Al Horford

I think the most likely scenario was that we always had intel that we were strongly in the lead for Ayton. And in the unlikely event that he changed his mind, we probably had back up trades lined up to immediately pull the trigger on (not necessarily something super splashy, but a small trade that would have filled out the center option more nicely than the free agency leftovers).

We can argue the merits of Rob’s plans, but Rob DOES have plans. The speed at which we used our cap space after we locked up Kessler reminded me of how we quickly filled out the roster and pivoted after Kawhi went to the Clips. It’s like we operate the plans like a flowchart. We’re currently waiting on someone, but pending their decision we have the next sequence of moves already lined up and ready to execute. Whether those moves are good or not is a different conversation lol

Our wing situation and pursuit of Kuminga all feels very similar

 

yeah, all of that is why i've been wondering what the backup plan is. it's just idle offseason stuff; i'm weird and lame because i think this is just like solving puzzles or something. i try to anticipate things, and i can usually get the framework, but we always have at least one big surprise to me (laravia last year, mamu this year--neither was on my radar).

yeah, because luka is actually pretty big, you can go a bit smaller in the starting lineup at the other forward spot, but i'd prefer to have both size and speed there. that's part of why i like williams--he's 6'8" and fast. i think he has real djj potential in that you put him next to luka/reaves and you may see him look MUCH better than he has elsewhere.

 

I agree. Feels like we've got to at least feel very good about our chances here. There's always the risk of the backup guy signing elsewhere but its a gamble you have to take.

 

Luka is also obviously a very good rebounder. He's basically a power forward.

 

He looked pretty cooked this past season in Houston. Looks like we dodged a bullet not re-signing him last summer. Would be a good locker room guy though.

 

Seems(?) like when there's this much smoke and waiting with mutual interest between Lakers and a player being reported, that Rob finds a way to close the deal. Ayton last year. Smart the same. Both could have gone elsewhere. Kessler this year. He wants him BAD and that A- for this off season.

 

Referred to the media angling to make this Decision 3.

It’s not. Because no one cares.

 

Not to “media” … just likely answering honestly to other GMs, as opposed to being a Snake …. what DFS’s injury/fix situation was.

 

There could be a sign and trade possibility

So destination would determine what players we could get

I may be grasping at straws, but we don't know yet

Again I don't like the guy or care about him

If you prefer I'll post his news in his thread

 

Yeah I'm guessing someone asked why they weren't prioritizing DFS and he probably stated the obvious: he's an older role player coming off a foot injury (that was already reported in the media). Someone thought it would be an opportunity to throw the Lakers FO under the bus again.