More than two weeks have passed since the official start of NBA free agency, and the Los Angeles Lakers still haven’t made any moves — at all. While they have reportedly pursued a number of free agents, all of them have rejected the Lakers, making them look weak and possibly even incompetent when it comes to personnel moves.
On Tuesday, their latest free agent target spurned them when 3-and-D wing Gary Trent Jr. decided to join the Milwaukee Bucks on a one-year contract.
Perhaps one reason for this latest miss was the fact that they currently have a full roster of 15 players, and according to NBA rules, they cannot currently sign a free agent. They would have to trade away a couple of players on minimum contracts in order to be able to obtain a free agent, and doing so would be difficult, as Jovan Buha pointed out.
Via The Athletic:
“As things stand, the Lakers have a full roster of 15 players with guaranteed contracts. They’re also roughly $45,000 under the second apron of nearly $189 million. That combination means they can’t sign any players in free agency or add any additional players (or salary) in any trades. They have two first-round picks to trade (2029 and 2031), as well as multiple first-round swaps and second-round picks.
“The most straightforward way the Lakers can add talent is to make a consolidation trade. They can either send out more players than they receive in a deal or salary-dump [Cam] Reddish, [Christian] Wood and/or [Jaxson] Hayes, along with a second-round pick or two, onto a team with roster and financial flexibility. If the Lakers traded two minimum players (Wood, Hayes and Reddish would qualify), they’d have enough room under the second apron to sign a player to the $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception. They could also add a player in a trade or sign player(s) to minimum contracts.”
At a minimum, disappointed and frustrated Lakers fans will have to wait for such a move.
“Regardless, the Lakers expect to make a consolidation trade at some point, though that could come closer to the start of the season, according to league sources.”
As it stands now, the Lakers look like a good and possibly a very good team. But at best, they’re pretenders, and they need some help in the form of two-way backcourt or wing players and another serviceable center in order to move up into the NBA’s elite pantheon.