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

Kessler’s defense is really valuable, but if one of our top two guys goes down for 30 games, we won’t make the playoffs in the west. So I personally can’t call it a #3 - we don’t have the redundancy of a strong 3rd offensive option.

Well unless we sign a RFA outright with an offer sheet, to get them we’ll probably have to trade 1 or both of our picks. At that point, we can’t really swing any substantial trades and there aren’t really any good UFA’s this year.

Once you count up the team I listed plus Knecht and Vando you’re at 196m with the room exception left. If you can trade Knecht and Vando you can bring back between 16-24m and fill another need. But you need one of those firsts to do that.

It’s not looking promising.

 

Bummer on Collins, I liked him. Mostly for the size and stretch 5 ability. I was never sure about his fit with Luka because one of them would have to guard 3s

 

yes, but it's not like we didn't know that going in. highly likely that we'll be dumpster diving at that point. though i will say there's almost always at least one guy left that should have been signed and doesn't get there.

if we land kessler or duren, the offseason is already a success to me. it's really hard to get your hands on players that good. they fit with luka/reaves and are young. you can flesh out around that over time. we'd still have 33m in tradeable contracts and 2 1sts to continue building.

if we don't get one of the big fish (RFA or absorb another big piece into space), yes, the offseason was a failure, and the clearing of cap space didn't buy us what rob thought it would. and he'll be fired or possibly just resign, tbh.

 

This is a legitimate risk, but on the flip side I’m pretty sure we have the most spending power in the league right now.

So if we’re fixated on a big fish, yes we risk mid-tier free agent X signing elsewhere.

But by not waiting for us, that free agent is also taking a risk. If they stay patient and we end up striking out on the big fish, we might have a much more lucrative offer waiting for them than any other team could currently offer.

It’s kind of what happened with Danny Green. He was a prized free agent but knew we were going all in for Kawhi, and knew that if Kawhi fell through we’d have a very rich offer waiting for him. So he waited to see how things played out.

I know this isn’t an appealing example because this would still be a pretty disastrous scenario for us, but say you’re Mitchell Robinson weighing MLE offers currently available to you. But if the Lakers come to you and say, “Well if we strike out on the RFA’s we have a 1 year/$20 million deal waiting for you”, then his camp very well may stay patient knowing that they’ll still have those MLE offers if the Lakers do end up using their cap elsewhere

 

Bulls got an interesting squad next year.

Powell, Claxton and Caleb Wilson is a pretty significant off season infusion.

 

Yeah i feel the same way. I would go with Rui. personality fits Spurs

 

that's a pretty high bar, imo. outside of SA and okc, who can you not say that for? you don't build teams planning on missing on of your top two players for 30 games.

i do. duren was all-nba last year at 22 years old, and kessler's not too far off from young gobert (better on offense, not quite as good on defense). these are difference makers. if they're your third-best player, you're probably good. if they're your best player, you're probably not.

don't see why we'd sign up for that unless at least some salary was leaving, which would create more space to work with. that can be used to absorb salary for more picks or to absorb players that are overpaid but we could use or whatever.

if we just landed an RFA outright, it's this right now:

luka 50
reaves 42
kessler 42
vando 12
mamu 9
grimes 9
ayton 8
laravia 6
knecht 4
thiero 2
bronny 2
carr 2
vet min
vet min

call it 192. you've got 8 million under the tax, 17 under the first apron. so you could make a trade or trades using ayton/laravia/vando/knecht (30m) and bring back nearly 40m in salary, jointly or separately.

 

so more space goes off the market. it's just us and the nets now who can eat anything larger than mle, right?

 

I believe we have 49-52m in cap space right now.

If we outright sign a RFA center for 41m. We’d have 8-11m in cap space which is enough space for Grimes and you sign Sandro with the room. At which point you have 2 first round picks and the folllwing squad:

Luka (49.5) / x / Bronny (2.3)
Reaves (42) / Carr (3.3) / Knecht (4.2)
Grimes (10) / Jake (6)
Mamu (9.1) / Vando (12.4) / Adou (2.1)
RFA (41) / Ayton (8.1) / Hayes (6)

You’d have two draft picks to try and improve from that.

 

robinson and kuminga are two off the top of my head for whom it would make sense to be patient.

btw, has cam thomas signed anywhere? he's another guy that pendulum swung too far back on. reminds me a bit of when charlotte cut bait on monk.

 

Caffeine hasn't hit yet, but i think Charlotte still has their massive trade X as well.

 

Yeah my reading too.

Getting Kessler/Duren, along with locking in AR, builds us the foundation we need for a year marked as a complete rebuild. We get our top3 long term and spend the remaining Luka time getting wings that fit.

And absolutely true that if we fail to get one of them it is a massive failure and supports a FO rebuild.


Weird for Powell to leave Miami for Chicago. They probably didn't want him and he just wanted a bag. He made a lot of sense in Miami or Detroit. Nice move by Chicago

 

yeah, that's basically what i said. i don't find that to be a weak position, i guess. 18 of the 30m is expiring money, and basically none of it is vital to our success, so theoretically any trade is going to be an upgrade.

i'd prefer it if we found a way to roll salary into the RFA bid/S&T along with a pick whilst having the final piece already lined up. nothing says that's not the case, though.

 

I’m of the opinion that playing the 3 headed max isn’t the right game. So I agree that it’s hard to find 3rd options that can float you - even though we jsut had one - you can usually bridge the gap with a strong 3-7 instead.

I feel like Reaves and Kessler at 41m each isn’t great. You pay them both that. But I’m not sure that’s a championship core.

 

two year deals seems to be popular.

 

I find it weak, you have guys that should be your 6th/7th and 8th/9th as your starting wings. You have Jake as your 6th man? Vando is back in the rotation as a main guy, and you have Bronny and Carr as the backup guards.

In this scenario you have to be thankful Ayton came back, at least he is a solid backup big.

 

I know Luka can create miracles but this team Rob’s building look like s***, an unnecessary self inflicted dagger to our stomachs. It looks like we are being MozDeng’d once again by an executive on his way out

 

This is Rich Paul. The competitive meaning basketball is a shot at the Lakers. To signal they are rebuilding around Reaves and Luka.

sometimes people tip thier hands when they talk. Rich Paul did an interview. I heard his interview. Where he said it’s cool. They want to build it around Reaves and Luka. They need younger players. Younger players is always a code of rebuild. Lebron has always signaled young players with rebuild. Cause he likes vets.

maybe that is a reason he left. Because he wanted his vets Smart Rui Kennard. And it was conveyed to him in a meeting that the Lakers were going to go the way of younger players. Do what you do but we aren’t going to commit contracts to said players. Also the Reaves contract. And Rich has been on Reaves all season with the floated Jarren Jackson trade for Austin. That LeBron had to clean up. Seems like Rich and Lebron have been on this Austin contract all season or just him all season. Then you add Austin getting all that money before free agency. And them not offering LeBron a contract cause that’s usually when he would get paid or his negotiating window. Then no contract extension from last season. And that’s where they’re at.

 

Van and Dalton needs to be shopped. Take in a 1 year contract. Van, Dalton for Derozan. then Waive him or a buy out. Or even just have him come off the bench.