The Los Angeles Lakers entered the 2026 NBA Draft armed with the 25th overall pick in the first round. But the team wouldn’t stay there as they made a trade with the New York Knicks to move up one spot to select Baylor guard Cameron Carr
The Lakers gave up only cash considerations to move up to the 24th pick, but in doing so have now hard capped themselves. By trading cash, the Lakers will not be able to exceed the second apron of the salary cap, but that shouldn’t matter, via NBA salary cap analyst Yossi Gozlan:
The Lakers are now hard capped to the second apron by trading cash.
They're not expected to exceed the first apron anyways. https://t.co/uyYtwAxxa0
— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) June 24, 2026
As was noted, the Lakers are highly unlikely to even exceed the first apron, let alone the second, so being hard capped at that point means little. The salary cap for the 2026-27 season is projected to be $165 million with the second apron expected to be around $222 million, so the Lakers getting anywhere close to that level would be a surprise to say the least.
Being hard capped should have little effect on the Lakers’ offseason plans unless they decide to bring all of their free agents back and operate as an above the cap team. The Lakers have big decisions to make regarding Austin Reaves and LeBron James, not to mention other role players such as Marcus Smart, Jaxson Hayes and Luke Kennard.
The Lakers’ front office led by Rob Pelinka did what they had to do to ensure they would get the player they wanted in Carr, an athletic guard who can space the floor and has plenty of defensive potential as well. Many projections had Carr going a bit earlier in the draft, so him falling to the Lakers could be a major steal.
After two seasons at Tennessee, Carr transferred to Baylor where he made a major leap. He started all 34 games last season and averaged 18.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 blocks and 0.9 steal while shooting 37.4% from 3-point range on 6.1 attempts. He was a third team All-Big 12 selection and ranked in the top-10 in the conference in points, blocks and 3-pointers made.
Lakers reached out to Pelicans about center Yves Missi
While Carr is a promising prospect, the Lakers still have a big need at the center position and the team has been trying to address that through trades. The team reportedly reached out to the New Orleans Pelicans about their young center Yves Missi, but the Pelicans are reportedly turning away all trade inquiries on him.
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