Rob Pelinka is in a tough spot for the 2025 offseason. After reviving the championship dreams in Los Angeles, Pelinka will be forced to take things one step further and solidify his team's status amongst the teams pushing for a Larry O'Brien in the 2025-26 season.
There is one major problem with that. The Los Angeles Lakers are fairly limited when it comes to the assets available for upgrading the roster.
Los Angeles will be a team looking to make the most of the free agency period, hoping to lure talent over to the City of Angels on a discounted price. However, they should not be completely ignored in the trade market either.
The key offseason move that could define whether the Lakers are in a good enough spot to compete for a championship in the 2025-26 season will be how Pelinka manages to capitalize on the expiring contracts at his disposal for this offseason's trade market.
Lakers need Pelinka to maximize these assets
The Lakers will have a notable list of expiring contracts available for the trade market once the offseason gets going. Excluding players who have team or player options, there are a handful of key contracts who stand out.
Rui Hachimura ($18.3 million), Gabe Vincent ($11.5 million), and Maxi Kleber ($11.0 million) will all hit the final year of their current deals. Those players immediately stand out as potential trade candidates.
Hachimura should be the only name among the bunch whose future in Los Angeles is relatively safe. The two-way starting forward has been a crucial part of the rotation for years, and while a move is not entirely out of the question, the return package would need to be very favorable.
Vincent and Kleber, on the other hand, are two names who are prime trade candidates for the Lakers. The pair alone add up to a contract value of a returning asset that should be poised to help the team.
Vincent has had promising stretches of play for the Lakers as a backup point guard. However, the majority of his time in Los Angeles has ultimately been a disappointment.
Kleber failed to make much of an impact with the organization after arriving as a part of the Luka Doncic trade. The declining offensive ability of the German big man makes him largely expendable for a potential roster upgrade.
The worst case scenario for Pelinka would be for the start of the 2025-26 season to arrive and both of those players are still eating up salary as a part of the Lakers.
The counterargument would suggest Los Angeles could pivot before the NBA trade deadline. However, making an impact maneuver with one of, or both, those contracts before the new season would allow the Lakers a crucial opportunity to gel and adjust.
There should be rebuilding teams who would be thrilled to accept a package built with those expiring contracts for a piece that does not serve their timeline. Those are calls Pelinka needs to be exhausting during the offseason.