The Los Angeles Lakers are a stellar offseason away from contention, provided general manager Rob Pelinka can surround Luka Doncic with the kind of long, athletic, defensive-minded group of role players that Luka has proven he can bring to great heights.
The problem for Pelinka is that he won't have enough cap space this summer to build that type of roster, at least not in a way that challenges an OKC Thunder or a San Antonio Spurs team.
That's because the Lakers are presumably about to give Austin Reaves a new max deal, and they're also likely inclined to re-sign LeBron James (it's just good business), who won't be cheap.
With money for free agency looking sparse, Pelinka might have to turn to the trade market for a big splash, but even there, Pelinka will run into issues.
Lakers don't have good trade assets at the moment
In a new piece for ESPN ranking each NBA team's assets, Bobby Marks ranked the Lakers in the second-lowest tier (sixth) in the entire league, above only the Denver Nuggets, who were in the seventh tier all by themselves (yikes).
According to Marks, the Lakers only have two tradable future first-round picks to work with in potential trade talks this summer. These are first-rounders in 2031 and 2033.
It's not a promising situation for Pelinka, who as of now is working only with a few contracts he could trade: Jarred Vanderbilt ($12.4 million in 2026-27), Jake LaRavia ($6 million), Adou Thiero ($2.2 million), as well as Marcus Smart ($5.4M) and/or Deandre Ayton ($8.1M), if they pick up their player options, and Dalton Knecht ($4.2M), if the Lakers pick up Knecht's team option.
The general feeling around the league is that Smart will decline his player option and seek a richer deal on the market after a really nice season.
I didn't include Doncic or Bronny James above (both still under contract with the Lakers) for obvious reasons.
Lakers' offseason isn't going to be as explosive as fans hope
There's a wide disconnect between what the Lakers are capable of doing this summer, team-building-wise, and what they'd need to do to get on OKC and San Antonio's level.
Sadly, Pelinka isn't a magician capable of circumventing the salary cap and turning the Lakers into a top contender in the West by the fall, at least we don't think so.
Barring some unforeseen (and seemingly impossible) fireworks from Pelinka, we're starting at another full season of Luka-Reaves-LeBron Part II with a little bit of a different supporting cast this time around.
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