The Los Angeles Lakers acquired Luka Doncic ahead of the 2025 NBA trade deadline in a deal that was expected to instantly propel the team to contending heights. It's gone rather well thus far, as Los Angeles finished the 2024-25 season with 50 wins and are on pace for 54 in 2025-26.
For as compelling as those truths are, it's becoming clear that the plan for the 2025-26 season is to effectively stay the course and make more meaningful roster improvements next summer.
Los Angeles has several glaring flaws that need to be addressed, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. That has many pondering potential trades, but Rob Pelinka appears unwilling to complete a transaction if it hinders his long-term flexibility.
According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, the Lakers aren't willing to complete a trade that compromises their 2026 cap space unless the deal truly changes their outlook.
"It's believed that the Lakers are only going to sacrifice their projected financial flexibility in the summer — which is expected to furnish them with the ability to make significant roster changes — only if they can acquire a real needle-mover at the position. Will such a player actually become available over the next four weeks and change?"
While that's certainly a logical approach to take, it also proves that Doncic's first full season in Los Angeles is about establishing positive tendencies rather than going all-in on a title pursuit.
Lakers are seemingly prioritizing the future over 2025-26 title ambitions
The Lakers are on pace to secure a significant amount of financial relief during the 2026 offseason. Excluding cap holds and player options, the franchise is only on the hook for $76,876,839 with a projected salary cap of $166 million.
Cap holds and player options will admittedly eat into the former number, but the point stands that the Lakers will finally have an opportunity to sign meaningful talent in free agency.
That's something of a luxury considering how strapped for cash the Lakers have been in recent years. They signed Gabe Vincent and extended Jarred Vanderbilt in 2023, but those were effectively the only big-money moves Los Angeles has made since then without completing a trade.
With the opportunity to finally make a splash in free agency, the Lakers would be wise to limit the amount of long-term money they take on ahead of the 2026 trade deadline.
The unfortunate truth of that approach is that it would risk punting the 2025-26 season. With Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves all eligible for unrestricted free agency, that could mean failing to strengthen the roster during what may be their last season together.
The Lakers could potentially circumvent this potential issue by trading for a player on an expiring contract, but it's unclear if such a deal would actually improve their outlook.
Los Angeles made a trade of that nature for Dorian Finney-Smith in 2024-25, only to lose him in unrestricted free agency. In the end, the Lakers effectively gave up three second-round draft picks and were left with nothing to show for it just one season later.
Rather than allowing history to repeat itself, it appears as though the Lakers will allow Doncic's first full season to be about establishing the culture he'll be a part of rather than going all-in on contending.