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

LOL …. cue the Talking Heads “Same as it ever was” someone spotted this photo of a summer gut on Zion.


https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=2472430

 

Jake LaRavia is not better than Rui Hachimura. Not on any basketball court.

you can’t just trade definite scoring. That’s the s*** that gets you fired.

Rui is exceptional. Id have to know a definite star is coming back.

like if Gianiss was like I’m outa here. I’m gonna sign with L.A. workout a deal with them. And Rui was a part of that deal.

but I’m not trading him to trade him. I’m not trading him for Monk. That doesn’t make us a winner.

yall have to think about the playoffs. Let me run this by you.

Jaylin Williams

Anthony Edwards

Jimmy Butler

Kevin Durant

Jokic

Kawaii Leonard.

who’s guarding these guys or at least helping guarding these guys????

it sure ain’t LeBron.

 

I do think the Lakers plan out Free Agent Superstars they want to pursue.

some guys want to be Lakers and play in L.A.

Anthony Edwards wants a bag and wants to get paid. He got a bag but might want to win a championship.

but two guys the Lakers are focused on

1.Nikola Jokic

2. Gianiss Atomotomko I tried lol. This has a lot to do with the sneakers L.A. once LeBron retires.

Lukas a Jordan Brand guy.

side note it’s why I see Caitlin Clark eventually coming to the Sparks in L.A.


The way Jeanie moves they are all superstars. Lebron will be here.

there is a clear plan for Anthony Edwards.

but the true Ace in the Lakers whole that no one talks about is Wambyana. It’s August so I’m talking.

he is different. Is obsessed with winning championships. Wants to win championships. Is Muslim Kareem so there’s that. He is focused like a Kareem. And I’m not sure if San Antonio is his city. If he doesn’t win with Fox.

I can definitely see him wanting to come here to play with Luka. And he’s a Center and you know the Lakers and Centers.

 

Good point on who defends those big, strong guys. I now Rui is a fairly big dude at 6-8 230, and a 7-2 wing span. Yeah, maybe that trade idea is underwhelming. It was kind of more about getting that Carter or Ellis piece though. But, I see where you are coming from.

 

This is a great point and insight from a marketing perspective. Yeah, I could see that. I wanted to go there with Wemby, but I decided not to lol. I cant think of two players who would complement each other more than that Luka/Wemby combo. Giannis seems to be getting too up there in age though, no? I mean in terms of matching up with Luka's timeline. I mean, if we got him, I wouldn't complain, but just saying. He's up there with Wemny in terms of being a complement to Luka, and vice versa. But i like the stuff that you are saying. What would you say the path to Edwards is?

 

Your argument isn’t really one in good faith though. Jerami Grant at the time was 28, averaging 20/5 with a steel and a block shooting 40% from 3 and defending. Yes he fell off the cliff by 30. But you’re using that to argue via hindsight, looking at the outcome and not the process and that carries a bias.

The question is, if a sub all star at 25-30 becomes available, would we move assets to secure them? For every Jerami Grant example where it wasn’t smart to move assets there is a Brunson or OG opposite argument that we should have moved the assets.

The reason I and others feel like we should be aggressive is because we have a top 3 player in Luka and a top 10-12 player in Lebron available right now. And it’s for one or maybe two more seasons only. It’s time to go for it this year.

 

not hindsight bias. check the receipts. i (and some others) knew grant was overrated and portland was asking way too much.

we didn't have the assets for anunoby at any point. we weren't offered brunson, and he had basically cut a deal to join ny as soon as extension talks stalled in dallas.

hell, we were even priced out of the dejounte murray market (which ended up being a blessing, due to the injuries).

this is my point: the fan angst is a bunch of swiping at ghosts. where did we turn down the kind of deals that people are saying we're turning down? we turned down terrible overpays, and we were wise to do so. why would we suddenly become stupid?

suggesting that we're choosing cap space over playoff-quality starters is swiping at ghosts, imo.

the question is what is "aggressive"? are you saying you'd move rui/expiring/knecht/1st for wiggins? that's the only deal we supposedly turned down, and i'm fully ok with that. is not trading for wiggins the thing we're saying is evidence that we're putting all eggs in wild FA chases?

 

I agree. Wiggins doesn't move the needle enough to part with the assets.

 

Exactly. We are no longer burdened by LeBron’s threats every single year. We have Luka now. There won’t be another multiple season ruining Westbrick trade on the horizon because LeBron no longer has that kind of leverage.
As for people getting bent out of shape over the “preserving cap space” rhetoric: when has any smart operation given their competitors a blueprint of their future plans? Rob may have made some mistakes, but the guy is no dummy. He’s very cunning, when not being shackled, and will put out to the media any type of misleading quotes. The guy just added Ayton, Smart, and LaRavia while keeping all of our valuable assets and only lost an aging DFS. Of course our FO will trade for a starting caliber for player in the near future if he fits well alongside Luka.
I’m in agreement that it’s a low probability that either Giannis or the Joker will be demanding a trade anytime soon. They just don’t seem to be that type of player. If they did, wouldn’t it be better for us to have more starting caliber talent that Denver or the Bucks would want in return?
Not every team tears it completely down in one shot.

 

this is a more concise version of what i've been trying to say:

1. our actual plans are probably not known to anyone outside a small group of people, maybe nobody beyond rob himself, tbh.
2. so many theories about rob require me to believe he's just a dumb guy, and i don't think that's true. i think there are very few, if any, really dumb guys running nba franchises (dumars worries me...).

 

Edwards would be more centered on shoes around Shoes. Ant man. Is he a Nike guy? Not sure or Addidas? You go where the Sneakers want you.

Jordan was fine being in Chicago. But it’s not Chicago it’s Minnesota. I know KG got antsy about getting outa there.

Edwards seems like the guy who wants bright lights playing in front of stars. L.A. would be that. You just pitch him on playing in L.A. the stage Kobe Magic.

I do think playing with Luka is a key that’s the ace. We have especially if we win a championship. We have a top player. I do think he’s this generations Curry will players will be running to play with him.


I still don’t see how Dallas traded him.

 

The Dejounte Murray trade needs to be talked about more. You have to give Rob credit for that. That’s his biggest acquisition here not making that trade.

Anthony Davis wanted it. Lebron wanted it. Made too much sense right??? Russell.

but Pelinka saw it. You can’t make a trade like that. A good player who won’t win you a championship. And I know most of that was he got hurt. But if he was here he’d be sitting in a corner missing threes. Because that’s not his game. He needs the ball and LeBron has to handle the ball. In a way he’d be a much better Westbrook.

I think Rob saw that and stayed away.

well that trade would’ve prevented us from going after getting Luka we wouldn’t have the money. Cause we would’ve paid the Money. f***ing up our Cap.


You can’t make a trade to make a trade and then shoot your self in the foot where you can’t win. And prevent yourself from getting a great player. The Lakers make sure they’re in position to get the superstars. And now they have Luka.


Would the Lakers take a swipe at Jaylon Brown. I don’t think so.

it’s tricky. There is a reason they are preserving cap for Gianis and Jokic.

 

players should flock to play with luka, but i'm not sure if they will. i think it's hard for stars to play off a guy like that, and he's foreign, so he doesn't have that national team friendship recruiting that we've seen help make some super teams.

all that said, i do think veteran role players and young guys looking to jump start their careers will come play with luka in la over just about any opportunity. like jokic, luka can make ordinary guys look great. and luka is in los angeles now.

so yes, i think we will be a destination, but i'm not sure it will be for the anthony edwards's of the world. but guys like mikal bridges and such should be very interested in playing here. luka and three guys like that is probably more dangerous than luka and one guy like ant.

 

again, i'm really not sure this is what's happening. it's what people say is happening, but i think they're preserving to preserve, tbh. if they can get someone on a good contract who can help them win now, they'll do it. we'll see. if someone moves for what we had to offer who fits those criteria (like we find out we didn't bid on say, derrick white or something), then i'll admit i was wrong. until then, i'm pretty convinced that the flexibility is there just because it's good to have it in general. especially with lebron's future in doubt. we can't sink 35 million into a veteran under contract for a couple years after lebron may be gone.

 

Another trade we didn’t make Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.

I think Luka is the player Wemby can win with. Wemby can’t win with Fox.

Foxs game doesn’t blend with Wemby cause Fox isn’t the shooter Luka is. Luka would make Wembys game easier pulling players out to the three in the picking and role shooting threes. Fox can’t shoot like that. He just can’t. Players will sag off. That’s why getting Luka was so huge.

 

Getting waaay ahead of yourself needlessly with Wemby talk.