The second day of NBA free agency featured the Los Angeles Lakers going on a very loud spending spree across the open market. Center of the future? Walker Kessler, welcome home. Role players that have Luka Doncic in mind? Collin Sexton, Quentin Grimes, and Sandro Mamukelashvili, come on down. And just like that, the Lakers have hit a temporary pause.
Unfortunately for them, this cannot be where the process ends. There are still noticeable holes on the roster, with the primary ones being on the wings. At the very least, the Lakers should want to seriously consider finding a way to land themselves a starter at the four spot.
Standing in the way of those dreams? Jarred Vanderbilt's $12.4 million cap hit. In a perfect world, the Lakers would love to somehow pivot that amount of money into either their spending power to acquire more free agents or a different player(s) via trade. That will be easier said than done.
The Lakers surrendered considerable draft capital to acquire Kessler via the sign-and-trade. It will be hard to move off Vanderbilt's $12.4 million deal without that added incentive for any potential takers. Still, Rob Pelinka cannot just swallow that pill. No stone should go unturned in trying to unload Vando.
Jarred Vanderbilt's cap hit looks uglier by the day for the Lakers
Vanderbilt's current contract looked ugly in 2024-25 when it kicked in. It has only gotten harder to stomach ever since, with that figure rising ever season, and no clear way out of that money in sight.
Vando is a fine player to keep at the end of your bench, without factoring in the contract. At $13.4 million in 2026-27, and $13.3 million in 2027-28, that is way too much to be paying someone who could be anywhere between your 11th to 15th man on the roster.
Every little big of money matters for filling out a roster. There is excellent context to add here that should illustrate that, and it involves two former Lakers.
In 2026-27, the combination of Phoenix Suns guard Jordan Goodwin and now Houston Rockets guard Marcus Smart will be earning similar money combined to that of what Vanderbilt will be making to sit on the bench. Those are two major contributors versus one relative non-factor.
If there is a team out there willing to take a Dalton Knecht, or whoever else, alongside Vanderbilt to make that portion of the cap matter for the Lakers again, they should take pounce on it. Otherwise, the team will continue to bleed money paying for that deal.
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