LeBron James’ player option just part of Lakers’ summer agenda

With the calendar turning from May to June, the Lakers have entered a crucial period of the offseason.

And with the expectation of significant movement throughout the league this summer, and the Lakers looking to shake up their roster after back-to-back first-round playoff exits, the next couple of months will be crucial to their quest to improve the roster for the 2025-26 season.

“We know we have a lot of work to do on the roster,” General Manager Rob Pelinka said during his joint end-of-season media availability with Coach JJ Redick. “And it will look different next year, for sure.”

Where does the Lakers’ roster stand ahead of free agency starting later in the month? What resources will they have to improve the roster?

Here are the key things to know for the Lakers’ offseason:

SALARY CAP/ROSTER SITUATION

The Lakers have eight players signed to guaranteed contracts for next season: Luka Doncic ($45.9 million), Rui Hachimura ($18.3 million), Austin Reaves ($13.9 million), Jarred Vanderbilt ($11.6 million), Gabe Vincent ($11.5 million) Maxi Kleber ($11 million), Dalton Knecht ($4 million) and Bronny James ($1.9 million).

Those salaries combine for $118.1 million, leaving the Lakers $36.5 million below the salary cap of $154.6 million for next season.

But the Lakers aren’t expected to have cap space, and will likely operate as a luxury-tax team, if not a first-apron team, once decisions on player and team options are made.

LeBron James ($52.6 million) and Dorian Finney-Smith ($15.4 million) have player options for the 2025-26 season with deadlines of June 29 and June 30, respectively.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that James will likely opt into his player option, which would be an unprecedented 23rd NBA season for James.

James opting in would put the Lakers at nine players on the roster combining for about $170.7 million in salary – $17.2 million away from the luxury tax line of $187.9 million, $25.2 million away from the first apron ($195.9 million) and $37.1 million away from the the second apron ($207.8 million).

If Finney-Smith and Jordan Goodwin ($2.3 million team option; June 29 deadline) return on similar salaries for 2025-26, the Lakers would eclipse the luxury tax by close to $1 million and have 11 players signed – three fewer than the minimum of 14 that all NBA teams are required to carry. That’s before factoring in Shake Milton’s $3 million non-guaranteed salary for 2025-26 (July 20 deadline) and their unrestricted free agents (Jaxson Hayes, Markieff Morris and Alex Len).

RESOURCES/NEEDS

The Lakers could have access to the $14.1 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception, but using it would hard-cap them at the first apron, leaving them little flexibility.

Using the $5.7 million taxpayer midlevel exception, which would hard-cap them at the second apron, seems like the more likely outcome.

The Lakers would hard-cap themselves at the first apron if they acquired a player in a sign-and-trade and/or take back more money than they send out in a trade. They’d hard-cap themselves at the second apron if they aggregated contracts in a trade.

Speaking of trades, although the Lakers don’t have a first-round pick in this year’s draft (June 25-26), they can trade one first-round pick (2031 or 2032 – not both), have the right to swap any of their five first-round picks (2026, ’28, ’30, ’31 and ’32) and have one tradeable second-round pick (the No. 55 pick in this year’s draft).

The Lakers have made their need for a big man – and probably more than one – clear. Pelinka also mentioned wanting to make upgrades on the wings.

“In terms of center traits, it would be great to have a center that was a vertical threat, lob threat, and someone that could protect the interior defensively – those would be key,” he said. “But there’s multiple different types of centers that can be very effective in the league. There’s also spread centers that can protect the rim. We’ll look at those as well. I wouldn’t want to limit the archetype, but we know we need a big man.”

Pelinka added: “And in terms of just solidifying our defensive core on the wings and just making sure that we have players that can defend the wing position, that’s an essential need. We see it playing out in the playoffs and anytime you can upgrade your defensive core on the perimeter, that’s going to help.”

OTHER DATES

• July 6: Reaves, Hachimura and Vincent become eligible for contract extensions;

• Aug. 2: Doncic becomes eligible for a contract extension.