The 2026 offseason will present the Los Angeles Lakers with an opportunity they haven't had in quite some time. Significant cap space could be available to the front office, thus permitting Rob Pelinka to not only re-sign Austin Reaves, but add considerable talent.
With this in mind, the Lakers must keep an eye on the future and avoid the temptation to sacrifice long-term assets for short-term gains.
If the current roster remains intact, only six Lakers will have guaranteed contracts for the 2026-27 season. Luka Doncic leads that group at $49.8 million and next on the salary cap table would be Jarred Vanderbilt at a distant $12,428,571.
After Vanderbilt, the remaining players would be Jake LaRavia at $6 million, Dalton Knecht at $4,201,080, Adou Thiero at $2,150,917, and Bronny James with just $1,258,873 of his $2,296,271 guaranteed.
Excluding cap holds and player options, and even assuming James' team option is picked up, that would put the Lakers at $76,876,839. With a projected $166 million salary cap and $220.8 million first apron, Pelinka would have unimaginable wiggle room to make necessary upgrades to the roster.
Considering Reaves will be declining his player option to sign a lucrative new deal, and the only others belong to Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart at a combined $13.4 million, the Lakers are months away from a massive offseason.
Lakers could have significant cap space, ability to retool roster in 2026
A compelling list of players will be eligible to become free agents during the 2026 offseason. The list of stars is admittedly scarce beyond Kevin Durant and LeBron James, as even the big names such as James Harden, Zach LaVine, and Trae Young would be poor fits on a team with two star guards in Doncic and Reaves.
A surplus of high-level starters and reserves will be eligible for free agency, however, and the Lakers will finally have a chance to make signings above the mid-level exception and veteran minimum.
Potential free agents include productive veterans such as Norman Powell, Nick Richards, Mitchell Robinson, P.J. Washington, Nikola Vucevic, and Andrew Wiggins. There are also a surplus of quality young players with untapped potential, including Ayo Dosunmu, Tari Eason, Keon Ellis, Quentin Grimes, Bennedict Mathurin, and Mark Williams.
There are even long-shot dreams of landing restricted free agents and players with club options such as Luguentz Dort, Jalen Duren, and Isaiah Hartenstein.
Regardless of who the Lakers end up signing, the point stands that the front office finally has options. It's a breath of fresh air after Los Angeles was forced to spend the 2024 and 2025 offseasons relying on exceptions and veteran minimum contracts to flush out the rotation.
Not have those low-cost signings been meant to create depth, but to play significant minutes and fill holes that teams typically turn to well-paid starters and reserves for.
Thankfully, the Lakers will finally have a chance to make that type of investment in 2026. It's a golden opportunity to start the Doncic era with a clean slate and the flexibility to adapt the roster to the new franchise player's preferred style of play.
Compounded by the fact that the Lakers have their own first-round draft pick in 2026, they'll finally have a chance to add high-level talent in every stage of the offseason—if they stay the course.