The Lakers’ busy summer has left them with a problem that good teams eventually run into: too many bodies, not enough room.
Los Angeles is already over the roster limit, and with the front office still trying to shape a group that can contend for a championship, a move is going to have to happen soon. Lakers insider Jovan Buha pointed to three names that could be on the chopping block.
“Clearly, the Lakers need to dump someone, and I think it's going to be one of three players," Lakers insider Jovan Buha said. "It's going to either be Dalton Knecht, Jaden Hardy, or Bronny James."
That roster squeeze matters even more because the Lakers are also still hunting for help in the middle. Dan Woike of The Athletic reported that the team remains active in the market for big men.
“The Lakers are still monitoring the market for big men, team sources told The Athletic," The Athletic's Dan Woike reported." They traded for Walker Kessler and signed Kevon Looney to play center, and Mamukelashvili can play the position, too.
The team could address the position either by trade or signing, like with potentially adding Thybulle. The roster is currently at full capacity."
One proposed solution comes from Heavy.com’s Adel Ahmad, who outlined a three-team deal that would send Jarred Vanderbilt and Bronny James out and bring Jalen Smith to Los Angeles.
The appeal is straightforward. Smith would give the Lakers the backup center they need, while also helping them get back under the roster limit. He has made $36 million throughout his career, and he fits the kind of frontcourt profile Los Angeles is looking for.
Smith is described as a stretch big who can help on offense in multiple ways. He also brings defensive value, with the ability to protect the rim and add size off the bench. For a Lakers team trying to patch both its roster crunch and its depth inside, that kind of two-way fit would go a long way.
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Lakers Still Have One Big Center Problem After Walker Kessler Trade
The Lakers made a major swing for Walker Kessler, sending multiple future first-round picks to Utah in a move that should give them a young, defensive anchor in the middle. They also sent Deandre Ayton to Washington and brought in veteran Kevon Looney on a one-year deal, reshaping the center rotation in a hurry and signaling that the front office wanted a different look after the trade.
Even with those changes, the depth chart still has a familiar soft spot. Los Angeles has not added another true backup center, and the lack of attractive trade pieces makes upgrading that spot harder than it sounds. Looney is the name most likely to fill the role for now, but the Lakers are still carrying a real question behind Kessler, and it is the kind of roster issue that can linger long after the headline move fades. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Ownership Change Could Upend The Plan Around Luka Doncic
The Lakers are heading into a period of uncertainty after a major ownership shift, with the franchise set to move from Mark Walter to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner. Walters run brought sweeping front office and roster changes, along with a strategy that borrowed heavily from the Dodgers model of organization and player building, so this is not a minor handoff of the keys but a potential reset of how the team does business.
What comes next matters because the Lakers have already been operating with a clear identity under Walter, and there is no guarantee the new group will want to keep that same blueprint intact. For a team trying to plan around Luka Doncic, the bigger question is whether any change in direction will be smooth enough to keep the long-term picture stable, or sharp enough to force new uncertainty around his future decisions. [Read more 🡒]