The Lakers have a big offseason ahead of them, but what does the team look like heading into next season if everything goes according to plan?
To call the upcoming offseason for the Lakers critical would be an understatement. While the team is set up for the future with Luka Dončić, there is still a lot of work to be done to get them to a point where winning a title is a realistic possibility.
But with tradeable picks, mid-sized salaries and an enticing young prospect or two on the roster, the Lakers have the ability to reshape their roster this summer. Still, it feels like there are about as many possible ways this summer can play out as Dr. Strange saw in Infinity War.
What does knocking it out of the park look like for the purple and gold, though?
As part of a series of articles looking at different ways the summer could play out, starting with the best-case scenario. Say everything goes right for the Lakers this summer. What does the roster look like heading into the season?
The offseason will start with the draft, but it feels unlikely that the No. 55 pick will factor much into viewing the offseason as a home run or a whiff. Ideally, the Lakers are able to find a good, young player — probably preferably a center — who can play some rotation minutes from the jump.
But finding those prospects that late in the draft is very rare, so it’s not something you can really count on. The best case scenario, then, might be packaging that pick with money to jump higher into the second round to land a player that can be impactful right away. It’s significantly easier to find a player who can get rotation minutes at pick No. 35 than pick No. 55.
The focus then turns to in-house free agency, where the Lakers have a couple of decisions to make. Chief among them will be Dorian Finney-Smith, who has a player option for next season.
In a best-case scenario, DFS opts out and agrees to a deal worth more money on a lower annual salary. If the Lakers can get him to re-sign from anywhere between $10 million and $13 million, that feels like a win. Something like a 2-year, $22 million deal would be great value.
The only other in-house free agency decisions involve minimum contracts with Markieff Morris, Alex Len and Jaxson Hayes. Len might not even be in the league next season, so he definitely shouldn’t be on the Lakers. Hayes, meanwhile, clearly doesn’t have the trust of the coaching staff and is best finding a spot elsewhere next season.
Kieff, though, makes sense to bring back next season as a veteran voice. The players respect him and using your 15th roster spot on him is a worthwhile investment.
Now, the focus shifts to out-of-house, both in terms of free agency and trades. The obvious objective is going to be acquire multiple centers, considering none are on the roster.
In an ideal scenario, the Lakers land a young, starting-caliber, lob-catching, rim-protecting center.
So nothing major, really.
While every player has their strengths and weaknesses, the two names that check the most of those boxes are Daniel Gafford and Nic Claxton. Either one fits the bill and would be a great fit with Luka moving forward.
Both, though, would cost the Lakers most of their assets as it’s nearly impossible to imagine a trade for them doesn’t include both Dalton Knecht and a first round pick. If you want to argue in an ideal offseason, they’re able to hang onto one of either Knecht or a first, you could, but that feels like crossing over from best case into unrealistic.
Instead, the Lakers could also look in those trades to add a young, athletic wing as well. Now, neither Brooklyn nor Dallas is full of them, but could you nab a Dariq Whitehead or Keon Johnson from the Nets or even a Jaden Hardy or Caleb Martin from the Mavs? While they aren’t fully problem-solvers themselves, they do help address weaknesses from last season, whether that’s defense or athleticism.
Now, to land a backup center, the Lakers could use their taxpayer mid-level exception (TPMLE). Again, you could argue that in an ideal scenario, LeBron James takes a pay cut, as he was open to last year, and the Lakers have the full mid-level exception. However, I think his willingness to do that last year had as much to do with the player they were targeting in Klay Thompson as it did anything. And that type of player isn’t on the free agent market this year, nor has LeBron reportedly expressed a willingness to do that this summer.
The two players I think are the best fits for the TPMLE would be Steven Adams and Clint Capela. With Capela, you get another lob-catching center that gives you the ability to play the same style of basketball no matter which big man is on the floor.
Adams, meanwhile, offers a change-up. What he lacks in his ability to catch lobs he makes up for with his terrific screen-setting, physical presence and offensive-rebounding ability. He proved with the Rockets that he could be a reliable big man still in the league and, as a backup, he makes sense.
(Editor’s note: only hours after writing this, he signed a multi-year extension with the Rockets. So cross that one off!)
The last move of an idea offseason would be to look to move some of the mid-sized contracts the Lakers have and try to land more impactful players. For example, if the Indiana Pacers, a team that does not venture into the luxury tax, are looking to either lessen that luxury tax payment or avoid it altogether, could you trade for a player like Obi Toppin?
A swap built around Jarred Vanderbilt and Toppin would save the Pacers $2.5 million in straight salaries, let alone luxury tax payments. Other picks or young players would need to be added to that from the Lakers side, but that’s the type of deal you could look to make to improve on the margins as well.
Similarly, could you turn Gabe Vincent into a guard who is a better fit? Is that a more consistent scoring threat like a Jordan Clarkson? Is that taking a risk on a higher-ceiling player like Lonzo Ball? Is that looking for a player perhaps miscast in their current role like a Moses Moody?
Now, there’s a real possibility the Lakers don’t have both Vando and Vincent to try to upgrade on as one or both would be in a trade for Claxton or Gafford, but you get the gist of looking to upgrade their spot. Between those two and Maxi Kleber, the Lakers should have at least one player they could look to trade.
Part of the problem you’ll run into while doing that, though, would be a lack of assets, namely in second round picks. Perhaps in a trade with the Nets or Mavs for that center of the future, you look to acquire a couple of extra second round picks that you can then, in turn, use in trades of players like Vincent or Vando to upgrade their spot.
What the roster exactly looks like is uncertain since I laid out a number of scenarios and, as I said, an ideal player for one person is not the same for another. Our best-case scenario may not be the same as President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka’s either.
But if the Lakers can head into next season with their center of the future, a legitimate backup option behind him and upgrades on the edges of the rotation — you know, so the same five players don’t play the entire second half of a game — then it’ll feel like they’ve had a terrific summer.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.