After a quiet opening night of free agency, the Lakers got to work Wednesday. They agreed to a sign-and-trade for Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler and agreed to sign Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton.
In total, the Lakers shelled out more than a quarter-billion dollars. After entering free agency with the ability to create more than $50 million in salary-cap space, they now appear to be out of money.
To sign all three of Kessler, Grimes and Mamukelashvili, the Lakers will have
to renounce the rights to all of their remaining free agents, including Rui Hachimura. After they spend their cap space on that trio, they’ll sign Sexton with the room exception and can officially sign Austin Reaves to his new four-year, $184.8 million max contract. They will have no remaining salary-cap exceptions, so they’ll only be able to offer minimum contracts from here on out.
Here’s a look at where the Lakers stand financially in the wake of their free-agent flurry.
Keep in mind that these are rough estimates for Kessler, Grimes and Mamukelashvili based on the terms reported for their respective contracts, although agent inflation is common at this time of year. In fact, one of those deals is guaranteed to come in slightly lower than reported, as those estimates would put the Lakers slightly over the salary cap.
Once the Lakers sign Reaves and Sexton to their new deals, they’re projected to be less than $6 million below the $200.4 million luxury-tax line. They’re hard-capped at the second apron after sending out cash on draft night, but they’re far enough below it (more than $26 million) that it’s a complete non-issue for them.
Since the Lakers are roughly $14 million below the first apron, they will have considerable in-season trade flexibility. Teams above the first apron can’t take back more salary than they send out in trades, but teams below it can take back significantly more. Kessler, Grimes, Mamukelashvili and Sexton won’t be trade-eligible until Dec. 15 at the earliest, but that’s something to file away for ahead of the trade deadline.
Can the Lakers create more cap space?
Between Reaves, Sexton, Grimes, Luka Dončić and rookie Cameron Carr, the Lakers now appear to be set in the backcourt. Their frontcourt is also in fairly good shape between Kessler, Mamukelashvili, Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia and Jarred Vanderbilt.
However, their situation at the 3 leaves much to be desired, barring a massive leap from either Dalton Knecht or Adou Thiero.
Even if Reaves, Dončić and Grimes all start together in a three-guard lineup, the Lakers could use some additional wing help. They have a few pathways to continue adding to their roster this offseason despite being capped out.
The Lakers could always look to trade Vanderbilt ($12.4 million) or Ayton ($8.1 million), or they could try to salary-dump them into another team’s mid-level exception. However, the Lakers don’t have much left to sweeten any trade offers. They now have zero tradable first-round picks, only one remaining first-round swap (2032) and one second-round pick (2033).
They could also pull a 2025 Milwaukee Bucks and waive-and-stretch Vanderbilt. Doing so would leave them with a $4.15 million dead cap hit in each of the next three seasons, but that would equip them with an additional $8.1 million of spending power this summer. They’d have to spend that newfound cap space before they officially signed Sexton or Reaves to their new contracts.
Once the game of free-agency musical chairs runs out, the Lakers might be able to snag a wing for cheap—perhaps even on a minimum contract—since they can offer a legitimate role. Playing alongside an elite playmaker like Dončić could help players improve their market value moving forward, too. But if the Lakers hang on to both Vanderbilt and Ayton, they’re likely done with their big moves in free agency.
Do the additions of Kessler, Mamukelashvili, Grimes and Sexton outweigh the departures of Hachimura, LeBron James, Luke Kennard and Marcus Smart? Do the Lakers have something else up their sleeves? We’ll find out soon enough.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.
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