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

Porzingis is never healthy, otherwise he would be a no-brainer, but he is literally Victor Oladipo at this point.

also seems Luka doesn't like the guy from their time in Dallas, so probably not happening

 

Sabonis would either be fantastic, and we’d have a top 5 offense and a passable defence.

Or (and admittedly more likely), we’d have the world’s most leaky defence and get bounced in the first round.

But he is a heck of a player.

 

You need 3 defensive players on the perimeter , 2 of them capable of hitting shots ..

Once you got them ( it's hard) , you can compete for a title .

 

ready for the draft and trade season to start

speculation season is too long and it gets old fast

 

I don’t agree with that. What I’m looking at this in these playoffs between New York And San Antonio OKC Denver Minnesota.

We need mores more/ more.

 

Well let’s see what we come up with.

 

Off-season talk the series is over.

 

I 100% agree with Magic Johnson." Lakers need to get younger and more athletic." I have Been saying this for years. Watching these playoffs and watching Lakers fizzle the last 3 years i cant help but to double down on this take. And for me if its going to take a Max contract to retain Austin you let him go. The Last thing you want is to create a bad contract on someone that took you nowhere. The reality is Lakers have not been good despite having Lebron/Davis and Lebron/Luka. Its a no brainer to keep him for the right price. A number that can be moved. Dont create a Lavine Beal situation.

 

I’m sure Mark lurks here too as all members of the organization always have …. and was clear on your take the first 20 times so no sweat. Or if you’re unhappy with what they DO do about Reaves you can continue your *******g to him directly all next season.

BTW letting him walk is a really bad take.

 

lavine and beal were cast as primary stars, not #2 offensive options. and beal was supermax. not the same.

everyone agrees that the lower number for reaves, the better for the team, but that's true of all players who aren't on a vet min.

everyone--save a few posters here--also agrees that letting reaves walk, even at max, would be a tremendous error (see the article quoting other gms on this, too).


to me, the billion dollar question this summer is still whether we operate over or under the cap. i can see the arguments both ways, but i still think we didn't spend the past year doing what we did to operate over the cap.

 

WTF
NBA superstar James Harden was arrested in Houston on Saturday morning.
NBA All-Star James Harden arrested with gun in Houston

The 36-year-old was taken into custody by the Houston Police Department at 3:41 a.m., according to court records obtained by The California Post, and booked on one misdemeanor charge of unlawful carrying weapons.

 

I have a funny way of looking at it. Austin could not win with Davis Lebron so i just cant picture him winning with Claxton, Kesler or whoever.

If over paid Letting him walk may actually be the best thing. I have a funny way of looking at it. Laker lost to OKC 8 straight games this season, were getting beat by the better teams except for maybe 1 month. Over the past 3 post seasons got waxed by the better teams. This is all while playing along side Luka/Lebron or Lebron/Davis. Now the whole idea is they can win with Claxton, Kesler, Robert Williams etc. What are the odds?

 

LAKERS OVER-CAP VS. UNDER-CAP ANALYSIS (After draft-day trade of Vanderbilt + Knecht + #25 + 2033 2nd for Herb Jones + Missi)

Note: 1st apron is 209.4m

OVER-CAP
Luka 49.8m
Reaves 41.5 (BIRD-RIGHTS)
H Jones 14.9
Ayton 8.1
Hayes 6.5 (BIRD-RIGHTS)
Smart 9.0 (MLE)
Richards 6.0 (MLE)
Bronny 2.3
Thiero 2.2
Missi 3.5
James 30
Hachimura 19
Kennard 7
TOTAL SALARY: 206m

UNDER-CAP
Luka 49.8m
Reaves 41.5 (BIRD-RIGHTS)
H Jones 14.9
Ayton 8.1
Hayes 6.5 (BIRD-RIGHTS)
Smart 9.4 (ROOM EX)
LaRavia 6.0
Kenrich Williams 2.5 (VET MIN)
Bronny 2.3
Thiero 2.2
Missi 3.5
James 20
Dort 18.2
Richards 7.0
TOTAL SALARY: 192M

Under the cap seems to be the preferable route, if Lebron is willing to take about 10-million less than he would have if operating over-the-cap. In this scenario, the Lakers traded a 2031 1st + 2028 swap for Dort.

The under-cap option basically trades Rui, Kennard, and a 2031 1st for Dort and Kenrich Williams. This is significantly better in my opinion, because Dort provides both elite defense and very good three-point shooting. Williams provides 3 and D depth at the 4, and would likely compete with Thiero for minutes. Rui and Kennard both provide elite shooting, but are terrible at defense. The choice seems to come down to the dollar-amount that Lebron is willing to take. Lou Dort is also a Klutch client, so there is also that. The over-the-cap option wouldn't be horrible either though. We keep our 2031 1st, control our 2028 1st, and sort of maximize our salaries. Players like Rui and Kennard could be combined with picks and flipped later. There are also roster consolidation trade possibilities that involve our remaining spare tires, such as Ayton and LaRavia.

 

scott "the extender" foster will be one of the refs tonight

for a league that's constantly accused of being rigged, they really don't do a good job of making themselves look innocent

 

The pitch to Lebron would basically be: Would you prefer Lou Dort or Rui and Kennard? We could absorb Lou's 18m and sign Richards for 7m, if you sign for 20-million. If not, we could sign you for up to 30-million while bringing back Rui for 19m and Kennard for 7m. Smart and Richards would split the MLE. This option would leave us about 3.6 million under the 1st apron with 14 filled roster spots. We have some wiggle room to sign someone later.

 

To be honest i think Lebron already came to a conclusion he wont win another ring in LA but just dont care to move. Lebron said on many occasions he dont think Lakers are a contending team. His agent also was on record wanting Austin move to the bench. They dont seem to have that confidence.

 

If Lakers are unable to secure Dort, they could inquire about players such as Grimes (Estimated 22m), Oubre (16m), Ellis (10m), S.Jones (8m), Thybulle (8m), etc. But with Herb Jones already on the team (Elite defender with a shaky jumper), they might opt to just bring back Rui and Kennard at that point. A combination of some of those players is interesting too though. I mean Spencer Jones and Keon Ellis are literally two-way players. Why not just go for those two guys? Could also potentially upgrade from Richards to Time Lord.

Dort or a combination of S.Jones/Ellis are both interesting options.

S.Jones + Ellis is obviously better than Rui + Kennard, in terms of two-way play. Less expensive too.

 

Rumor going around is Lakers want to run it back and may just add a 20mil player with them.

 

Stupid is as stupid does.
Over rated bum.