While there has been little movement across the entirety of free agency on Tuesday, let alone the Lakers, it looks like the team has been moving in the background.
Two players who have been linked to the Lakers, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Quentin Grimes, look likely to have deals with LA, according to multiple reports. Longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein posted on Twitter that the belief around the league is that the pair will agree to contracts with the Lakers.
Just before that, his co-worker, Jake Fischer, reported that the league is under the impression that both deals are done and the pair will become Lakers.
The likeliest route for them to secure the deals is that one of them is signed with the Room Exception at roughly $9 million this season and the other is signed with cap space at around $10 million. That would leave the team with enough cap space to go after Walker Kessler as well.
With Luka Kennard departing to the Suns, the Lakers need a guard off the bench and Grimes fills that need. As for Mamu, it’s unclear if he’d be a replacement for Rui Hachimura or simply another piece on the roster. If it’s the latter, it’s a good signing. If it’s the former, then it’s a tougher sell.
For now, it’s not the time to jump to conclusions until all the work is done. In a vacuum, both deals are fair value. But seeing them in the greater context of the offseason will be key.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
