The Los Angeles Lakers’ unceremonious exit from the 2025 NBA Playoffs shined a massive spotlight on the issues with their roster construction. While no one faulted general manager Rob Pelinka for failing to build an on-the-fly roster after acquiring Luka Doncic mid-season, he now faces a hugely important offseason to try and build a championship contender around Doncic and LeBron James.

The Lakers will need to add a center and some more defensive-minded players, and Pelinka figures to have the complete backing of Jeanie Buss to make whatever changes need to be made. But L.A. won’t have control over all of the decision-making this offseason.

This is because of the player options that a few key members of the roster have. With L.A. lacking in practical cap space, they first have to await the decisions of those players before they can make a plan to build their roster. Those options — including player, team and guarantees — are listed below.

Lakers Option Dates

LeBron James

By far the biggest domino that has to fall for the Lakers in order to plan out their offseason is the player option of James. His player option is worth $52.6 million and must be decided on by June 29, about 24 hours before the start of the free agency window in the NBA.

James was incredible once again in the 2024-25 season, making history on what felt like a nightly basis. He also completely transitioned his game after the Luka trade, going from a score-first first option who was lacking defensively, to a defense-first playmaker that served as L.A.’s third scoring option.

If LeBron wants to be back with the Lakers, he’ll be back with the Lakers. Picking up his option would bring L.A. from a cap space team to a team above the first apron. More likely, James can decline his option and sign a new deal. All rumors indicate to him signing a new deal worth something similar to his player option.

Dorian Finney-Smith

While the Doncic trade was ultimately the team’s most impactful transaction of the season, Finney-Smith made a real case for that title after completely altering the team’s defensive capabilities when he was brought over from the Brooklyn Nets in late December.

He brought the Lakers from a team that was among the worst defensive teams in the league to right around league average, even holding the top spot for a few weeks after the Doncic deal. He now has a player option worth $15.4 million that must be decided on by June 29, same as LeBron.

At 32 years old, this may be Finney-Smith’s last chance to cash out with a multi-year contract. He could be a candidate to opt out and re-sign on a multi-year deal with a similar first-year figure. With the free agent market being what it is and how he appeared to gel with the franchise, Finney-Smith returning to the Lakers seems more likely than not.

Jordan Goodwin

Goodwin was a two-way signing with the Lakers that ultimately played his way into a standard contract. He played a massive role in the team’s midseason defensive turnaround, and was a legitimate rotation player by the playoffs.

He now has a team option — to be decided on by the Lakers — worth $2.4 million. It would be shocking to see the Lakers decline this option given his instant impact with the team in 2024-25. Even if the Lakers make significant improvements on the wings, he is a perfect depth guard that can make a defensive impact at any time.

Shake Milton

Milton was brought over to the Lakers in the same deal that landed them Finney-Smith from the Nets. He did not play a significant role with the team with a logjam of ball-handling guards ahead of him.

The Lakers have a decision to make with Milton as well, as he has a non-guaranteed deal worth $3 million that must be guaranteed by July 20. Given the construction of the Lakers roster, keeping a player like Milton doesn’t make much sense. But if they want someone who can be used in a trade or just to have as depth, they have until a few weeks into free agency to make that call.

Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!