The Los Angeles Lakers have a lot of work to do in free agency to improve their roster in the wake of LeBron James’ expected departure.
With free agency getting underway on Tuesday afternoon, their focus appears to be on Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes and Walker Kessler, per NBA insider Marc Stein:
The growing anticipation leaguewide is that the Lakers ultimately secure commitments on new contracts from Toronto free agent Sandro Mamukelashvili and Philadelphia free agent Quentin Grimes while still pursuing their top summer target: Utah restricted free agent Walker Kessler. https://t.co/pYMRcSyvrn
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 1, 2026
The Lakers have been linked to all three of these players in recent weeks, so it’s not surprising to see this is what the league is expecting to happen. Mamukelashvili and Grimes are both unrestricted free agents who can agree to a deal at any time, while Kessler is a restricted free agent who the Lakers can sign to an offer sheet or agree to a sign-and-trade with the Utah Jazz.
Kessler is meeting with teams in Los Angeles on Tuesday and the Lakers were believed to be one of those teams. The 24-year-old makes a lot of sense as a young center they can add to their long-term core of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
While he is known to be at odds with the Jazz in contract negotiations, they have the ability to match any offer sheet he signs in free agency. That is the danger of the Lakers chasing a restricted free agent, although if they are deeming him their top target then it seems they are planning on giving him an offer sheet that will be tough for Utah to match.
How Lakers can sign Kessler, Mamukelashvili and Grimes
The Lakers project to have around $52 million in cap space, as well as their room midlevel exception to use this summer. That means they can give around $10 million annually each to Mamukelashvili and Grimes, which is what they are expected to command, and still be able to give Kessler an offer sheet in the $36-$40 million annually range.
If the Lakers are willing to go that high, then perhaps they work out a sign-and-trade with the Jazz where they send Deandre Ayton and others to Utah, which would free up some more salary cap space.
Once the Lakers get more clarity on Kessler, they will know how much they have to offer other free agents to fill out the roster.
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