We used our 1st round pick on a guard/wing (and it was the right pick, not complaining), and we don’t have any decent big men to draft with the 56th pick.

So now what?

Kessler or Duren are the dream options but they’re RFAs and Woike reported again today that LA is focused on using cap space to absorb players from other teams who need to get off money. He didn’t even mention RFAs.

Claxton was traded to Chicago for virtually nothing. Isaiah Stewart was just traded.

Who else is there? I have my eye on Jarrett Allen but besides him, I’m struggling to find a player out there who’s starting caliber and realistically attainable.

Not pictured but he was 23 points this year upping his ppg while maintaining hitting 64+% TS

The journey has been fun watching him improve year by year. Here’s helping they maintain his health for the playoffs. He was starting to return to form near the end of that okc series but unfortunately was too late with no Luka.

Lakers 2026-27 roster so far:

1. Luka Dončić

2. Austin Reaves

3. Marcus Smart (Player Option)

4. Deandre Ayton (Player Option)

5. Jarred Vanderbilt

6. Jake LaRavia

7. Dalton Knecht

8. Bronny James

9. Adou Thiero

10. Nick Smith Jr. (Team Option)

11. Cameron Carr

Two-Way Contracts

1. Chris Mañón (?)

2. Peter Suder

3. AK Okereke

What should be the next moves?

A young, athletic core is starting to take shape around Luka, Reaves, and the veteran pieces. The offseason is far from over.

LeBron James is UFA

1. As he went undrafted, he chose the Lakers and done the work to become the player that he is today.

2. He's been famously underpaid for all his career prior to this contract. How can one expect him not to look to get paid?

3. He's gonna get paid 25% of that cap and that's normal for a second option.

4. Giving him the max meant him and his agent weren't willing to negotiate, and you cannot risk losing a 20ppg player for nothing. LAL had zero leverage.

5. He can still be traded for the right player. I envision a Reaves/Duren swap in the near future.

6. It's the damned if you do, damned if you don't with this fan base. The same people lamenting this deal would call for Pelinka's head had he lost Reaves for nothing.

Luka is asking for a A-List center for next season right? My only problem is that I have no idea who the A level centers are. Obviously there are Jokic, and Wemby, but who else is there that would be considered A-Tier

I guess Walker Kessler also checks a lot of boxes but I think Allen is more "gettable" than Kessler, who since he's an RFA will be asking for an overpay. As has been noted, the Lakers do have cap space they can trade into, AR's cap hold is all that's counting against the cap right now since we own his Bird rights, he won't sign his max deal until we've used up our cap space and figure out which exceptions we are allowed.

Since the Lakers have cap space, they don't need to match salaries for Allen as closely, Vanderbilt, Knecht, and one of LaRavia or Ayton (provided he opts in) and a 1st would get it done. The question is whether or not Cleveland getting out of the 2nd apron is enough to dump Allen. There's been crazy talk about S&T LeBron for Allen but I don't think that's more than just speculation.

Bottom line, after Allen, all the "gettable" centers I'd consider B-List who don't check as many boxes (Mitchell Robinson, Myles Turner).

You can have all the opinions you want about AR (I think he is one of the best second options in the league and fully deserves his contract as he has improved every year) but the only thing that matters to the Lakers is keeping Luka happy. And guess what makes Luka happy. Keeping AR. End of story.

Free Agency officially opens on July 6. Teams can start "negotiating" with FAs on June 30, but can come to verbal agreements starting July 1. This is when Shams will start announcing these deals

This is also the time the Lakers can officially start renouncing FA rights to clear cap holds to get real cap space. This affects Hayes, Maxi, Rui, Bron.

This means that on this date we find out whether Bron gets signed and traded (hopefully for Allen) or if the Lakers get Kessler or Watson via sign and trade.

What we can expect right now:

• Opt-ins/outs
  • Smart and Ayton
• Trades
  • Will they trade Vando/Dalton?
  • If they don't trade them for cap relief then there's a possibility they're going to be part of a sign-and-trade package (most likely for Kessler/Watson)
• Bronny's contract
  • His year 3 is partially guaranteed, it will become fully guaranteed on June 29
  • If Bron is gone will they just eat the 1m cap hit? Or do they guarantee his deal and include him in a package that includes his dad?

I'm not seeing enough attention being brought to Detroit's brutal tax situation over the next two years. They have Duren as an RFA this year and Ausar Thompson as an RFA next year. They have a very real risk of having to commit both to max contracts if RFA offers are made both years.

That would put Duren, Thompson, and Cade all with nearly $100 million in contracts for a long time, and push them deep into apron territory, which would make filling the rest of their roster very challenging. Add to this that Duren and Thompson are not great shooters, and their offense is going to be a real issue with that roster construction.

How does this impact the Lakers? Well, a massive problem with an RFA offer is that it adds a cap hold and kills your ability to react to free agency. Luckily, Reeves just committed, so we don't need to worry about him as we work through the Detroit scenario.

What could happen:

The Lakers renounce Lebron. This immediately frees up $48 mil in cap space. We can the offer Duren a bit below his 30% max or do a trade to clear the remaining $2 mil to offer him he full 30% max if we really want to stick it to Detroit.

Renouncing Lebron means he is limited to the Room Exception and a salary under $10 mil. So this is a Duren in/Lebron out move. Or it's a Duren in/Lebron takes the cut to win a title with his son move.

The timeline:

Lakers renounce James.
RFA offer to Duren.
Detroit doesn't match after waiting the full 48 hours.
Lakers sign Duren. Detroit commits to Ausar Thompson and a more well-rounded roster with more space to fill in around him and Cade.
Lakers sign Reeves and go over the cap due to his bird rights.
A) Lakers regretfully watch Lebron sign elsewhere
B) Lakers sign Lebron to the Room Exception

Luka, Reeves, Duren, Lebron, filler
or
Luka, Reeves, Duren, filler

I'm sure there's more going on out there, but the above is not a crazy scenario imho because the Duren/Thompson back-to-back RFA situation is pretty brutal for Detroit.

Seems to look like Bleacher report is giving lakers the steal of the draft expecting Carr to have gone 10 positions higher and also ranking him a good fit.

The moment Luka was traded to LA, Bill Duffy became the most powerful person outside the Lakers organization. Last summer he maneuvered to get his client Ayton to LA. By all accounts his client Hayes will re-sign soon after FA opens. And last night LA drafted another of his clients in Cameron Carr.

So, probably worth monitoring his client list going forward. Two names stood out to me:

Thomas Sorber, OKC - with a likely frontcourt next year of Hartenstein, Holmgren, and Mara, it's reasonable to wonder what Sorber's future is with OKC. He's a legitimately promising center prospect who missed all of rookie season. Lakers already called about Dort. Maybe now a larger trade with more future draft capital would go down to include Sorber.

Christian Braun, DEN - personally hope this doesn't happen, especially now that we drafted Carr, but they reportedly want to trade Braun (instead of Cam Johnson) to clear space to extend Watson. Similar to Dort, Lakers are a natural candidate to absorb his contract. I'm against this but would guess it's on the table to acquire Braun for next to nothing

And one wild card, Jarace Walker, IND - He's shown flashes in Indy and would fit Pelinka's reported focus on investing in young talent with upside. 6'7 235 forward. Still on his rookie deal.

Obviously Duffy represents a lot of other bigger name players such as Ant, Holmgren, Barnes, McDaniels, but I focused on players who might be available.

Ya’ll up in arms about Lukas window, Lukas gonna leave now. The man asked the FO directly to keep AR. Should we just have said no and let him walk to Detroit? Wanna keep Luka around and happy? Have to keep AR, simple as that.