With the NBA Draft and start of free agency just days away, the Los Angeles Lakers have a lot of work to do to put together a roster capable of competing for a championship in 2023-24.
Rob Pelinka did a nice job of remodeling the Lakers’ roster at the trade deadline last year, but now he must decide who is worth keeping and what other pieces could be brought in.
The Lakers’ main priority remains re-signing both Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, who are restricted free agents coming off stellar postseason runs.
Other than that, the Lakers’ focus will be on the point guard position as D’Angelo Russell was not as successful in the postseason, putting doubt in the eyes of many that he’s worth the contract he will command in free agency.
In addition to Russell, the Lakers have been linked to some big-name point guards like Fred VanVleet and Chris Paul.
Paul is a name to keep an eye on since the Lakers would be able to sign him for the minimum if he’s waived by the Suns or traded and bought out.
Outside of that though, don’t expect the Lakers to be involved in any of the big names on the market, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
“There’s no big game hunting out there for this Laker organization. In this league right now, with a new collective bargaining agreement, you can’t really have three max contracts, three superstars and expect to have any depth on your roster. It’s going to look a lot the same.”
The Lakers have already tried the three-star model, bringing in Russell Westbrook alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis in 2021 with a majority of the rest of the roster being minimum players.
That obviously did not work though, so it makes sense that the Lakers don’t want to go back to it, especially with the parameters of the new CBA that limit spending.
Things can always change if the right opportunity presents itself, but for now, it looks like the Lakers’ offseason will consist of re-signing their own players and adding some talent around the margins that hopefully complement the rest of the roster.
Lakers hoping to sign Paul while also keeping Russell?
With the Lakers pursuing Paul, many people have assumed that means they are not re-signing Russell as they both play the same position and have been starters their whole careers.
According to recent reports though, the Lakers are hoping to keep Russell in addition to landing Paul, which would give them one of the better point guard rotations in the league.
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