The Los Angeles Lakers onboarded nine players this season, including prospective long-term center Walker Kessler and a host of quality role players.
They now have an opening to make another significant upgrade next season, with a potential $20M-plus available via exceptions — including the full non-taxpayer MLE and veteran minimum contracts — all while staying under the first apron to build around Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Kessler.
Silver Screen and Roll’s Bryan Toporek broke down how the news of the NBA spiking the salary cap to $176M and the tax line to $213M next season allows the Lakers to use their full $16.05M NTMLE and also sign a few vet minimum players.
“If the Lakers picked up all [team] options, they’d be up to $199.1 million in salary with 12 players under contract,” he wrote.
“That would leave them roughly $22.9 million under the first apron, which would give them enough room to spend the full $16.05 million non-taxpayer MLE and round out their roster with a pair of minimum contracts.”
That is thanks to the NBA’s new 2027-28 projection of a $176M cap and $213M tax line, a bigger jump than expected, per @TheAthletic
Loaded NBA Free Agency Class
Those options include the player options of Jarred Vanderbilt ($13.3M) and Collin Sexton ($9.8M), and the team options of Dalton Knecht ($6.45M), Jaden Hardy ($6.M), Bronny James ($2.5M) and Adou Thiero ($2.5M).
If the Lakers don’t pick up those team options, they’d have a little more wiggle room to spend to tag to their near-$181M pay roll.
While the $16M NTMLE won’t fetch the Lakers a star, it could land them a quality starter or an elite Sixth Man. Players who fit that criteria in next year’s loaded free-agency class could include C.J. McCollum, Keldon Johnson, Luguentz Dort, Max Struss and even Luka Doncic’s former teammate, Derrick Jones Jr.
Next year’s free-agency class could also include Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Stephen Curry, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Michael Porter Jr., R.J. Barrett, Draymond Green and Cameron Johnson.
None of those players are realistically attainable, unless the Lakers can pull off a sign-and-trade involving Austin Reaves or Walker Kessler.
Lakers Benefit From NBA Salary Cap Spike
The Lakers are among several teams expected to benefit from The Athletic’s new projections that the NBA’s salary cap will spike by at least $2M next year.
“The news is sweet relief for teams facing salary-cap and apron crunches, as much for the direction as the magnitude,” wrote Fred Katz and John Hollinger.
“….Additionally, the increased projections flip a recent trend of every cap update from the league shifting future estimates lower, thus making it even more challenging for teams to navigate the aprons in future seasons,” added the report.
“This will also be welcome news for players whose max-contract extensions are tied to the 2027-28 cap number, most notably Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and it increases the max salary for potential 2027 free agents such as Nikola Jokić and Jalen Duren.”
If the trio of Doncic, Reaves and Kessler produces solid results, the Lakers have a full year to plan out how to spend their possible $20M next summer. The projections could force the Lakers to be wary about adding long-term money at the trade deadline, as doing so will hurt their chances of accessing their full NTMLE next year.
Lakers, Luka Doncic Get Great News Amid NBA Announcement