NBA free agency is underway and so for the Los Angeles Lakers have been quiet outside of re-signing restricted free agent Max Christie.
With LeBron James willing to take a pay cut to add impact free agents, the Lakers notably chased Klay Thompson but were unsuccessful in recruiting him as he signed with the Dallas Mavericks instead.
There are still some quality options out there but the market is drying up quick. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka spoke about free agency on Tuesday during Dalton Knecht and Bronny James’ introductory press conference and said the team will continue to be aggressive looking for ways to improve.
“I think we’re gonna always be aggressive trying to make roster upgrades and we’ll be relentless trying to look at what we can do,” Pelinka said. “As you pointed out, we have 14 guys under guaranteed contract with one space and this is the season of being mindful of all the things we can approach to improve the roster. So we’re in the midst of that as we speak. That will continue in the coming days and it often spills into Vegas where all the GMs meet and gather and other deals get done. But we’ll stay aggressive.”
Free agency isn’t the only way for the Lakers to improve. In fact, because their roster is full, they likely will need to make one or multiple trades to clear space.
The Lakers have two first-round picks in 2029 and 2031 that are available to trade and Pelinka says they are willing to do so if a good deal comes along.
“Yeah, I think if the right deal comes and we have to put in draft picks, we will,” he said. “I think we’ve talked about it before, we’re now in the apron world. We’ve seen contending teams or championship level teams have to lose players. That’s a result of the apron world we’re living in. So does it make trades more challenging? Yes. Do it make good trades impossible? No. So we’ll continue to pursue upgrades to our roster.”
There certainly are plenty of avenues for the Lakers to improve with them reportedly in active trade discussions with a handful of teams. Now it will be up to Pelinka to get something done, especially considering other teams in the West are making moves as well.
Bulls willing to talk DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade with Lakers
One player the Lakers have been linked to heavily is DeMar DeRozan, who is expected to be leaving the Chicago Bulls.
While the Lakers could offer their mid-level exception to DeRozan, the Bulls are reportedly willing to listen to sign-and-trade offers so perhaps there is a deal that works for both sides to bring him home to L.A.
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