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After a flourish of activity early in free agency, landing Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia, the Los Angeles Lakers have stalled out a bit with work still clearly needing to be done. According to sources with an understanding of their offseason plans speaking on the condition of anonymity, the team is hoping to reignite trade talks as the entire league embarks upon Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League.
Previous trade targets include Andrew Wiggins and Robert Williams, among others, and a couple new names have garnered some attention given how the rest of the offseason has played out to this point. Sources say Matisse Thybulle, Marcus Smart (though most teams are watching to see if he's going to be bought out), Ayo Dosunmu and others are names the Lakers have had preliminary conversations with teams about availability and price, though no offers have been made.
“Rob (Pelinka) likes Vegas because he can just pull so-and-so aside and have a conversation that would otherwise take a little planning,” an Eastern Conference executive said. “Summer league has become a real opportunity for all of us in that way.”
As far as goals go, the Lakers are looking to open at least one and ideally a couple roster spots, plus gain full access to their bi-annual exception with a little room under the first apron, which they will be hard-capped at heading into the season. Ideally, sources say they would accomplish all that and land a more natural starting small forward (Rui Hachimura has played out of position the last couple years) while bolstering a bench that was among the least productive in the NBA a year ago.
Lakers reserves were so bad that JJ Redick infamously made no substitutions in game four of their series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He got so desperate that he inserted Maxi Kleber into their final game of the year even though he'd never even practiced for the Lakers.
As currently constructed, the Lakers rotation runs about nine players deep, in terms of guys Redick would enter the season trusting to varying degrees:
Starters
- Luka Doncic
- Austin Reaves
- Rui Hachimura
- LeBron James
- Deandre Ayton
Bench
- Jake LaRavia
- Gabe Vincent
- Jarred Vanderbilt
- Jaxson Hayes
Deep Reserves
- Jordan Goodwin
- Dalton Knecht
- Maxi Kleber
- Trey Jemison (two-way)
Shake Milton likely to be traded or waived
Shake Milton is almost certainly either going to be traded or waived before his July 20 guarantee date, according to sources close to the team.
Let's say Milton is waived; that would leave the Lakers with one open roster spot and just under $4 million separating them from the first apron. They wouldn't be able to use their full bi-annual exception and, if they use whatever chunk of it they can, they'd be right up against the hard cap.
Goodwin's contract isn't fully guaranteed until January 10, so he could technically be waived to open another roster spot and gain access to that full bi-annual exception. If he's waived, too, the Lakers could use that $5.1 million on a free agent and enter the season with an open roster spot and about $1.1 million separating them from the first apron hard cap. The Lakers did like Goodwin quite a bit last season and, given his low cap number, there's a good chance he'd be claimed off of waivers, so if the Lakers did go this route, it would be after turning over every other stone.
Pelinka has typically preferred to enter campaigns with an open roster spot and a first-round pick in his back pocket. He also would probably prefer a little more space between him and the first apron given how much more difficult it can be to open cap space during the season. There's also the reported plan to maintain cap and draft flexibility for the next couple seasons as the Lakers are monitoring Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic's situations.
It should also be mentioned the Lakers are keeping a very close eye on the buyout market. Bradley Beal is obviously the player the rest of the league is monitoring, but given how teams are operating in this new CBA, basically any veteran on an expiring contract is considered a candidate to be bought out. As a result, even while De'Anthony Melton has long been linked to the Lakers, sources say they're looking to maintain flexibility in case the right name becomes available, as Ayton did a week or so ago.
The NBA will descend upon Las Vegas in a matter of days. Having the whole league in one place at the same time is a great way to stir up another wave of action. Pelinka and the Lakers hope to ride that wave to a deeper, more balanced roster that will hopefully convince Doncic to sign his extension in August and James to stop taking pictures with Cleveland Cavaliers.
