The Los Angeles Lakers aren't attempting to rebuild what they had in 2025-26 with a better cast of players. Yes, they won 53 games and a playoff series. With cap space finally available, however, the Lakers appear intent on remodeling rather than retooling as they fulfill promises made to Luka Doncic.
Despite that widely established intention, it appears as though the criticism and analysis the Lakers are being subjected to is in line with a misunderstanding of what they intend to do.
Seven of Los Angeles' top nine players in minutes per game in 2025-26 are eligible for free agency. All eyes are on three of those players in specific, due in no small part to the hefty salaries they could command and the production they provided this past season: Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves.
Per Brian Windhorst of ESPN, rival executives believe the Lakers have "phantom cap space" due to the number of high-cost players they may ultimately have to re-sign, if not replace.
"Keeping Reaves is a high priority for the Lakers, but his re-signing doesn't hit the mandate of improving the squad. Which means that, to materially improve, the Lakers will have to replace the James/Hachimura production and then add to it with that same block of cap space."
Windhorst continued:
"That is a real challenge for the Lakers' front office, especially because the team has no player in its rotation from the past four drafts who is ready for a larger role. This is why rival teams look at the Lakers as having "phantom" cap space."
Doncic and the Lakers shouldn't pay any mind to rival executives' concerns, as their vision differs enough from what they had a season ago that they needn't worry about simply replacing production.
Lakers viewed as having "phantom cap space" by rival executives
Yes, in theory, the Lakers will need to replace the production that Hachimura and James provided if they leave in free agency. That doesn't necessarily require them to bring in two players to meet that standard, however, as Los Angeles' new roster priorities should yield different responsibilities for the contributors in place.
For those unaware, the Lakers reportedly promised Doncic that they would recreate and improve upon the model that the Dallas Mavericks utilized during their trip to the 2024 NBA Finals.
That would theoretically result in Los Angeles acquiring athletic wing defenders, pick-and-roll big men, and volume three-point shooters. Though the Lakers played well this past season, one could easily argue that they lacked any one of those player archetypes in 2025-26.
That alone disputes the idea that the Lakers have phantom cap space, as recreating the manner in which they play on both ends of the floor is a far more complex achievement than simply replacing production.
Lakers are changing their style of play—not just who produces numbers
With an athletic rim protector and rim runner, the Lakers should improve defensively and become more efficient on offense. Doncic should also find more success in running the pick and roll, which has become a signature play for him during his already decorated career.
Deandre Ayton was an imperfect fit for such a role in 2025-26, which has made the Lakers potentially creating a more cohesive pairing a theoretically transformative roster adjustment.
Along those same lines, Los Angeles ranked No. 14 in three-point field goal percentage, but was No. 23 in conversions and No. 24 in attempts. It was also dead last in catch-and-shoot three-point field goal percentage. Yet again, there was a lack of ideal personnel.
By comparison, the 2023-24 Mavericks ranked No. 2 in the NBA in three-point field goal attempts and No. 3 in conversions.
With this in mind, the Lakers' supposed phantom cap space isn't going to be spent on upgrading the 2025-26 roster in a traditional sense. Instead, it will be utilized to make the necessary changes to the roster to alter the way they play—and enhance the positive tendencies they've already developed.
There are certainly hurdles in front of the Lakers from a financial perspective, but those who are boxing them into simply hoping to improve their 2025-26 roster aren't seeing the vision.
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