Despite a reasonably successful regular season, the last thing the Los Angeles Lakers want to be in 2026-27 is a "run it back" roster. This year's Lakers group didn't look like a real contender when it went up against the Oklahoma City Thunder, even during the regular season with a healthy Luka Doncic. Bringing back more or less the same team would be nothing short of front office malpractice from general manager Rob Pelinka.
Sam Amick and Dan Woike of The Athletic echoed this sentiment in a recent piece on the Lakers. "According to team and league sources, running it back with a mostly similar roster isn’t a palatable option," Amick and Woike wrote.
The Lakers can't drastically improve their roster this summer
The problem for the Lakers is that they're facing somewhat of a cap space crisis this offseason. The supposed cap space that every Lakers fan has been excited about -- the space with which Pelinka was supposed to go out and chase wings like Peyton Watson, as well as another center -- is going to be swallowed up by new contracts for Austin Reaves and LeBron James, presuming a return of the King.
When this whole Lakers cap space excitement began brewing pre-March, it was assumed that LeBron wouldn't be coming back. That narrative has shifted since, and James returning to LA feels very possible; probable, even.
We know for sure that Reaves is coming back, as all signs point to Pelinka and the Lakers inking AR to a new max deal. And unless LeBron takes a massive pay cut (something outrageous), the Lakers won't end up paying less than the $64 million combined that they paid Reaves and James this past season. So, where is that cap space coming from, exactly? You tell me.
The Lakers' cap space myth is what'll prevent them from adding depth
The Lakers have an obvious depth problem (we saw how the Thunder bench destroyed them), and ESPN's Tim Bontemps has even suggested that LA is five to six rotational upgrades away from being on a competitive level with Oklahoma City. But given the Lakers' financial outlook after (potentially) giving new deals to Reaves and James, they'll be lucky to add even two legitimate rotational upgrades.
In fact, the Lakers might even struggle to re-sign guys like Rui Hachimura and Luke Kennard, each of whom could very well attract a large offer from someone else (particularly Hachimura, who was awesome in the playoffs).
Heck, Marcus Smart might opt out of his player option and seek a richer deal elsewhere. The run it back Lakers? They might not even be able to afford running it back. Pelinka has his hands full, and know one can say for sure what's in store this summer.
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