Ever since the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Luka Doncic in February 2025, they've been looking ahead to the summer of 2026 as the time when they'd finally be able to build the right team around Doncic. With LeBron James' massive contract coming off the books, and by moving other parts around, the Lakers would finally be able to breathe easy without the constraints of the salary cap looming over them.
Such is the narrative that many Lakers fans have gripped firmly to for months and months while they've watched the Lakers fall short of truly contending. But just wait until the 2026 offseason, these same fans asserted. That's when the Luka Era really starts.
Lakers' summer of cap space has turned out to be a mirage
Unfortunately, the Lakers aren't going to have nearly as much cap space as has been advertised all this time. A big reason why is the possible (and in my opinion, likely) return of LeBron for his 24th NBA season. This was never written into LA's playbook for when it imagined a summer spending spree. But with LeBron still playing at a high level, and with the Lakers among the few teams in position to pay him the money he deserves (or something close), a reunion feels inevitable, and so, too, does the disappearance of LA's cap space that never was.
For the Lakers to get back into the groove of actually having space, they'd need to put their foot down and make the unpopular business decision of letting LeBron walk.
"We should probably put an asterisk next to the Lakers when labeling them a cap space team," ESPN's Bobby Marks wrote this week. "For the Lakers to get close to $50 million [in space], James, Rui Hachimura and Luke Kennard will need to be renounced. That leaves the question: Are the Lakers better off running back the same group as this past season, or do they look elsewhere in free agency?"
Marks also explained that the free-agent class isn't amazing, so LA would have to weigh the dangers of relying on that class to provide them the depth they need, if the Lakers did indeed renounce their own free-agents (James included).
Lakers aren't in a position to spend massively this summer and build an immediate contender
Lakers targets like Jalen Duren and Peyton Watson are restricted free agents, meaning their teams can match any offer that LA potentially makes. This is not exactly a good situation for a team like the Lakers, who are already expected to commit near-max money to Austin Reaves shortly after the conclusion of the NBA Finals.
NBA insiders such as Marks and Brian Windhorst have been talking about the Lakers' "fake" cap space for weeks at this point. It hasn't quite hit the wider public consciousness, but now that Marks has put things in writing, we're on the verge of a great awakening to the Lakers' reality. By the time the NBA Draft rolls around, most, if not all NBA observers will be well aware that the Lakers aren't in some glorious position to spend, and their offseason moves (or lack thereof) will reflect that.
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