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

This guy is Hayes with a jump shot, but lighter on his feet. Luka loves Hayes. Sounds like a logical pick.

 

I want AR to get paid after getting criminally underpaid for his performance the last few seasons.

Is he worth the max around the league on some teams? IDK, probably. I have a tough time seeing a contender willing to offer him that but I wouldn't be surprised if lesser teams ponied up for him but those wouldn't be teams that exactly plan on winning.

Is he worth it for the Lakers? I don't think so. I think he's probably 15-20% less than max. I'd be comfortable around $190 million over 5 years for Reaves.

Year 4/5, Austin is getting $51/$55 million. Year 3, it's $47 million compared to ANT at at the same year $55 million. Now let's say you want to trade Reaves for someone like ANT. It'd look a ton better if Austin was at $40 million and you offer 2-3 first rounders than $47.

Those teams need those players because they are their star players. I don't think Lakers *need* Reaves at that max contract. I think if it doesn't pan out, you're going to have a tough time trading Reaves. The fit isn't there. I'd have an entire different outlook if Reaves was OG instead because the fit makes sense alongside Luka.

Reaves? I don't see how the fit works. Same skillset, not athletic, too FT reliant. Just better options there. If the max is up for play with Reaves, I'd rather see a S&T for better pieces by midseason.

Booker is just an extreme example because everyone knows those last couple of seasons of his contract are going to be untradable. He'll get the money because Suns couldn't afford to lose him but he wouldn't be worth that money whatsoever.

I mean, Sengun signed for $185/5 years after averaging 23/10/6 just two years ago. Is Reaves better than Sengun?

Maxey signed for $204/5 years after averaging 26/4/6.

Since those two signings, the cap has only gone up by 13%. If I have it down correctly, a max contract for Reaves over 5 years would be $240 million. Is he worth that? I don't think so. Not for the Lakers.

 

yeah, i think he's been moving up the mocks, whatever that means. the word that i read was low iq/inconsistent motor/attention stuff.

the ringer's scouting report on him says he's soft--a less physical john collins.

i haven't seen a ton, but i didn't see anything like the skill collins had coming out; different frame, too.

big question would be can he guard forwards? because i don't think he can be a 5 in the nba. he's considered a reach at 25, but i wouldn't mind taking a flier here, if you will.

if it was between him and quaintance, that would be a tough choice for me...

 

contract hasn't been signed, and none of those guys were UFAs, right? if there were literally zero potential suitors at the max, it could change things, but if bkn is really willing to offer it, we don't have a lot of choice. we don't have to go to 5/240, but we might have to get closer than you want. letting him walk isn't really an option.

 

In two years, Luka would have been in the league for a decade.
Time is honestly ticking.

What has Cooper done? Nothing yet. But he also has a lot of time. Luka doesn't have time on his side. Once you start creaking up to 30 and you're already not the most healthiest player out there, it's pretty much going to be an uphill battle.

I just haven't seen any improvements in Luka's game from his third season into the league. Same shot selection, same ability to pass, etc., You can say he was elite very early into the season whereas other players needed more time to adjust but you'd have to wonder if there are at least any improvements that will be made from the leadership/defense/shot-selection aspect of his game.

 

He seems pretty nimble on his feet. I think he could guard 4's. He's built like Jabari Smith Jr, who plays shooting guard.

 

Again, this is where you need the other players on the team to cover the Slack. If LeBron and Reaves are there, sure...Luka might still go for a Triple Double a night, AND GET IT, but maybe with Reaves and LeBron and another good Center and a good bench, we have 4 players with 20 points each, instead of Luka with 50 and everyone else with 12.

I think Reaves proves he can score. LeBron has ALWAYS proven that. So, we have the scorers. To your point, we need the Defense.

Which again, I wonder if that is easy to regain or focus on IF you have others you trust to cover the floor with, and most times EVEN BETTER, than you and make it work.

Again, so much can happen and so much is still in play. If we get a BETTER person than what we had with Ayton, who can be better than Hayes, which may be Duren and/or Kessler....then that changes so much. If LOVE does come, and comes off the Bench then great.

Hell, what if we somehow got Klay. I know Klay is a little slow compared to a while back, but might be good off the bench too or whatever...

Again, ROLE PLAYERS. Good Role Players!

 

One could not trade Austin for Ant if they tried. Austin is not exactly young either. So you're right.

 

only a sith deals in absolutes

 

I’m in but not at #25. Early Second round for sure given Brazile’s potential. I’d take Cenac, Swain, Anderson, Ejiofor, Peat, quaintance (in that order) at #25. Mike Garcia was saying Brazile or Baba Miller are two rare archetypes that are worth gambling on in the second round. I think both will have to play the 4. Beyond the second round I think there could be 1 or 2 exciting UDFAs we sign. I’m curious if we prioritise a big man or stick with our forward and guard preference.

 

Text book example on why I block people. I unhid to view this discussion and it was a colossal example of why I don't like talking with these people.

 

Okay, YOU are Pelinka.

What do you sign LeBron and Reaves to? What is their worth right now with the cap that we have to give them and then who do you get after that. NOT TRADE......sign.

Who do you sign after that.

This seems so easy and straight forward as to Reaves' value and what not....so what numbers does he deserve?

Is he better than Maxey and Sengun? On our team he is. Around the rest of the league? Maybe not, BUT.....again.....teams are willing to trust him. He's considered a center piece for Giannis if we wanted to trade for him. And again, it's allegedly reported that the Pistons and the Nets want him for their own reasons. So like, that has to hold some stock somewhere.

 

I only come around here when it is Off-Season anymore, because I forget that it's usually TOO MUCH complaining about how the game was played and how we suck and what not.

Again, within people's rights...but like...I just like the rumors and then I like to leave it there. I got my circles to talk to about how the Lakers are doing to start blasting on the internet compared to the old days and my younger, unwise age.

I get the passion right now from people, but even this seems TOO early. I know the Knicks ARE an example of things, but not everything can be replicated. If so, we'd be back to LeBron vs the Warriors again EVERY year. And let's be real.......NOBODY wants that again. I like that we have had a different champion every year so far. Makes the league feel a little more blended. I know it isn't, but it feels that way.

 

https://collegefootballnetwork.com/nba/shannon-lebron-james-reaves/?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=nordot I think so to, it don't seems like Lebron was onboard or felt Lakers were a contender. For this reason I think it's best Lebron is out the picture moving forward. Lakers never fully committed to winning with him after the Westbrook trade. And now he is pretty much in the way. Just build around Luka and Austin and let them loose.

 

you can't trade tyler herro for giannis, either, right? things change.

yeah, cenac and brazile are similar to me, with cenac maybe having some more room to grow. not sure if he, swain, or anderson will be there at 25. peat might, ejiofor might.

i'd be ok with any of them.

 

Being a fan of the Lakers, is starting to feel similar to what it has been like being a fan of the UCLA Bruins. Dealing with diminishing returns is hard on much of the fanbase. People expect to win it every year and want to fire everyone, every single year. They do not understand ebb and flow and how to rebuild a team from the ground up while being able to appreciate the step by step progress. If you don't appreciate the process, how are you going to get any joy out of this?!?!?

I think my perspective is very different than a lot of the folks around here. I watched all those years when Jerry West and company lost to the C Bags. I was still a massive fan but the losing was painful. But, I never had those expectations. Showtime gave us ALL those expectations and then we got Kobe with Shaq and then Gasol. We got very used to winning and being in the top tier of the NBA every single year. Since Kobe retired, Jeannie lost the team and was unable to feel secure in staying competitive. The money scared her. I am glad she sold the team. The NBA is getting really expensive to build a long term juggernaut. It encourages teams to take nosedives into obscurity just so you don't end out with huge luxury taxes. I believe that the result of all of these changes in salary cap will result in up years and down years. It is going to remain difficult to field a team that has long term success.

We will see if this actually works out for the league.

 

I think we have to be clear, Luka since his second season has been all nba first team. You don’t really improve much from there, you are a top 5 player already. The improvement from his first season to second season was going from 20 points scoring to 30 point scoring and a significant improvement in his playmaking.

Since then, it’s been about getting the right pieces around him. At Dallas he didn’t just get bounced in the first round twice, he took the scary clippers team to 6 and 7 kind of on his own. Then he broke through to the WCF, they blew up that team the next season and retooled, then he made the finals and they blew up his team again.

I’m not sure what else we can really say? The guy performed awsome when he had a bit of health. When he didn’t, he pushed great teams to the brink in series’ he had no right to be in.

Also your point about Brunson and Giannis improving is an odd one. Giannis peaked as high or higher than Luka, but came into the league really raw, he was a single digit scorer at 4 rebounds, he’s a testament to him how far he came. Brunson hasn’t peaked as high as Luka impact wise, but credit to him as well, he improved a lot. Since both those players got to MVP or near MVP level they haven’t improved since. Luka got there much earlier than they did, in his second season… so there is less left to improve. Unless you think it’s realistic to improve on All NBA, which would take him to Jordan/Lebron levels. Luka isn’t the GOAT, he doesn’t need to have those expectations put on him.

 

Defensive stats overvalue rebounds because they take away one of the most important offensive outcomes - second chance opportunities and offensive rebounds (the single most valuable offensive outcome).

Luka is a good rebounder and so he gets rated higher because of that even when the eye test says the rest of his defensive impact is low. When he is playing passing lanes and using his IQ to blow up plays he becomes a net positive. It also leads to a very high net rating because when Luka is forcing turnovers, we usually score on the fast break.

I think my main point is this though: Luka is so good offensively that if he is just neutral defensively - on a net rating point he is one of the best in the league.

 

Honestly, compared to my younger years with the FULL Bleeding Purple and Gold, I realize that YEAH.....every year I still want them to win.

BUT....if they aren't getting to the Finals, I want it to be fun teams every year. I don't want a player getting into the Finals 8 years in a row just to duke it out with the same 2 teams in those 8 years like we saw with Miami and Cleveland and said player. Again, worth all the praise to receive, but like....Miami and San Antonio or Cleveland and Golden State gets SO BORING after the 3rd or 4th time.

So, seeing teams bounce around. Seeing teams live and die by their previous success, (cough)OKC(cough), just for it to go wrong somewhere, like that is fun.

But yeah, each off-season I want the Lakers to retool and be the best, but I've learned that things change so much between the off-season and the Playoffs. So, enjoy the journey.

 

• Cenac doens't protect the rim for some reason, which is weird considering his size
• Swain can't shoot, his shot looks really broken
• I like Anderson
• Ejiofor is solid
• Peat is a younger Ejiofor- his stats dont wow me but hes still young, you have to really project with this kid, i would pass tbh
• Quaintance is possibly it, if he is healed and explosive again
• Baba cant shoot at all

Anderson and Brazile are the most polished, if you want somebody that could contribute sooner than later. Jefferson is unique - i like his game a lot. He's a connective passer, hes gonna help not hurt, he doesnt like to dribble too much, he's like the Lonzo fit in that regard.