Lakers fans have come to accept this team for what it is: Good but flawed, the No. 5 seed in the West, not built to maximize Luka Dončić's talents, a playoff team but not a title threat. You can trust me on this. As a SoCal-based NBA writer, friends ask me about the Lakers all the time, and right now it's all about plans for this summer to upgrade and get back to the top of the mountain, not about whether they can get a good first-round matchup and advance in the coming playoffs.
What are those offseason plans? Many of them have been reported before — going after two-way wings, re-signing Austin Reaves, beefing up the scouting and basketball operations sides — but Dave McMenamin did an excellent deep dive into the Lakers’ plans at ESPN. Let's use that as a jumping-off point to discuss the future of this team.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Yes, the Lakers would love to pair Luka Dončić and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Here is how McMenamin put it at ESPN.
The Lakers, team sources told ESPN, obviously see the appeal in Antetokounmpo and believe they would be one of the teams on a very short list if the Bucks star asks for a trade out of Milwaukee.
If Antetokounmpo pushes his way out of Milwaukee — and despite some of the national narratives, that is not certain — the Lakers likely would still need Antetokounmpo to put his thumb on the scale to make that happen. This summer, the Lakers could offer three first-round picks (including whoever they draft this year) as well as Austin Reaves in a sign-and-trade (plus matching salary), but if the Bucks go to the marketplace there will be better offers on the table. Antetokounmpo has a player option in the summer of 2027, so he has leverage in any trade scenario because he can say he won't re-sign with a team, but does he want to force his way to the stacked Western Conference?
If Antetokounmpo pushes for a trade and the Lakers are one of a handful of teams on his short list, they have a chance — but not the kind of chance where you want to bet the rent money. The Lakers need to have other, more likely plans.
Re-sign Reaves, go get wings
Dallas has already shown the Lakers the model on how to build a Finals team around Doncic: Have a high-level secondary ball handler to take some of the load off, have a bouncy two-way center who sets a big pick and rolls to the rim hard, and get 3&D wings. Surround Doncic with defense and shooting, then let him cook.
Austin Reaves has shown this year that he can be that secondary playmaker, and he and Doncic have a good relationship. Reaves will opt out of his team-friendly contract this summer, but both sides want to continue the partnership, and the only question is how much the Lakers will pay. Reaves' max with the Lakers would be five years, $241 million (other teams could offer four years, $178.5 million max), but the number likely comes in under that, maybe in the $40 million a year range.
Doncic and Reaves give the Lakers a dynamic offense, but both are minus defenders, which means the Lakers need to surround them with quality defenders and a high-level rim protector. The Lakers could have up to $51 million in cap space (assuming LeBron James does not return, more on that below). Here is what McMenamin wrote at ESPN.
An unrestricted free agent who has been discussed internally, sources told ESPN, is Andrew Wiggins, but he has a player option with Miami he could exercise. Tobias Harris, Quentin Grimes and Dean Wade are other players who fit that profile. The Lakers have also privately discussed restricted free agents Tari Eason and Peyton Watson, sources told ESPN, and could land the latter if Denver, which already has $215 million in salary committed to returning players for next season, doesn't match the offer sheet.
There may be other guys in play this summer, but the mold is clear: The Lakers want long defenders who can shoot to go around Doncic. The challenge is that 29 other teams are looking for those kinds of wings, too.
LeBron James
LeBron James just "wants to live" and has not decided if he will play next season, he said during All-Star weekend. That's someone keeping their options open, but also someone who may have a lean but does not know for sure what his plans are after this season.
LeBron will be an unrestricted free agent this summer at age 41 and entering his unprecedented 24th NBA season. He can still play at a high level — coaches picked him to be an All-Star — but he would be the third offensive option on the Lakers and he is no longer the plus defender he once was.
The Lakers would welcome LeBron back, McMenamin reports, but the question is at what price? LeBron isn't going to get offered the $52 million he is making this season, but every dollar he takes cuts into the $51 million in cap space the Lakers could spend on other players.
The hot rumor in league circles is a LeBron return to Cleveland (for a third time), but there are a lot of questions there: That team is already over the second apron of the luxury tax and just added James Harden (who wants an extension), the Cavs are not going to be able to offer much money. And how they do in the playoffs will impact what moves the Cavaliers make next offseason. In the end, a return to the Lakers might be the call, but again at what price?
Growing scouting, basketball operations
One thing seems certain with the Lakers this season: New owner Mark Walter is going to spend to beef up the Lakers' basketball infrastructure.
There are things Walter did when he bought the Los Angeles Dodgers to turn them into back-to-back World Series champions that do not translate to the NBA — team building is very different with the tax apron penalties in the NBA CBA, you can't just buy every big free agent — but there are things that do translate. The Dodgers invested in their scouting and farm system, and as a result have one of the strongest minor league systems in the league.
The Lakers have long had a very lean scouting department, analytics staff and the rest of it (although the analytics side has grown in recent years) — that is about to change. The Lakers are going to start spending like the biggest brand in basketball, and with that will come a flood of information and changes, not all of which will be visible.
As McMenamin noted, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka said he would be in charge of the Lakers' offseason, and there is no reason to doubt that. It's also fair to think he will be under the microscope and will have to continue to earn his place at the top of basketball operations long term.
One way or another, there will be big changes coming to the Lakers this summer.