The Lakers got a double dose of bad news over the weekend as both Luka Dončić (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) are done for the regular season. Their status for the opening round of the playoff remains murky at best as well, although they’re both aiming to return as evidenced by Luka heading to Europe to attempt to expedite his recovery.
In the meantime, some Lakers fans have already begun to wonder whether reinforcements could be on the way until Dončić and Reaves are back. Chris Paul, Lonzo
Ball and Cole Anthony are among the playoff-eligible guards on the free-agent market.
The good news is that if the Lakers want to go that route, money should not be an obstacle. Lakers fans shouldn’t start preordering their CP3 jerseys yet, though.
Who would the Lakers waive?
After signing Kobe Bufkin to a two-year, $3.3 million contract following the trade deadline, the Lakers now have 15 players on standard contracts. That means they’d have to waive someone before they sign anyone else to a standard deal.
The Lakers have a $2.5 million team option on Bufkin in 2026-27, so they could waive him without being left with a dead cap hit next season. He’s played only 97 minutes across 14 games with the Lakers this year, so he doesn’t seem likely to factor into their rotation regardless. (He played only three minutes in their Dončić- and Reaves-less loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.)
If the Lakers want to keep Bufkin around in hopes of developing their youth pipeline, veteran big man Maxi Kleber would be the other most logical cut candidate. He’s on an $11 million expiring contract and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
A back injury sidelined Kleber for all but four games in March, although he’s already played in both of the Lakers’ games in April to date. Still, he’s averaging a career-low 2.1 points and 1.9 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per game, so the Lakers wouldn’t exactly feel his loss from an on-court perspective. His biggest value to the team might be as a locker room leader, particularly given his relationship with Dončić dating back to their time in Dallas.
Beyond those two, the Lakers don’t have any obvious cut candidates. Jaxson Hayes is also set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, but he’s been the Lakers’ primary backup center behind Deandre Ayton all year. Only $1.25 million of Bronny James’ $2.3 million salary for 2026-27 is guaranteed, although cutting a franchise icon’s son right before the start of the playoffs probably wouldn’t engender much goodwill with him.
Why money isn’t an issue for the Lakers
After signing Bufkin, the Lakers are roughly $630,000 below their first-apron hard cap. That’s well below the full-season price tag of $2.3 million for a veteran-minimum contract.
Luckily, minimum deals begin to prorate downward by roughly $13,000 per day once the regular season begins. Since there’s less than a week left in the season, they’re basically a rounding error at this point of the year. Even if the Lakers signed someone Monday, it would cost them less than $100,000 for this season.
The Lakers technically have enough space under the first apron to sign multiple players to rest-of-season contracts. Again, the issue there is deciding which players to waive to create those roster spots.
If the Lakers do pursue outside help, they can only sign players who were free agents as of March 1. Anyone who got waived after that date — like Cam Thomas with the Bucks — cannot join another team’s playoff roster this season. So, no, the Lakers have no reason to beg the Washington Wizards to waive D’Angelo Russell this week.
In all likelihood, the Lakers will stand pat with their roster as is and pray that Europe has discovered the cure for hamstring strains. (Surely it’s just eating more protein… right?) But if they do want reinforcements until Dončić and/or Reaves return, they have the spending power to sign a free agent, as long as they’re willing to part ways with someone currently under contract.
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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