The Los Angeles Lakers have spent the offseason building a deeper roster. Their next task is deciding which part of that depth they can afford to lose.
Los Angeles will open training camp with 16 players on guaranteed contracts, one more than the NBA’s regular-season limit. President of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said Thursday that the Lakers do not intend to make the decision immediately.
Instead, Pelinka and coach JJ Redick will allow the competition to continue through training camp and the preseason.
“The spirit of competition has been great,” Pelinka said during the Lakers pre-training camp press conference. “To some extent, going from 16 guys to 15 guys, we have until opening night for the competition to sort of play out and see who the best 15 players are.”
That gives the Lakers until their Oct. 21 opener against the Golden State Warriors to resolve a roster crunch created by their late-summer additions.
Lakers Could Make Consolidation Trade
Waiving one player is the simplest solution, but Pelinka made it clear that it is not the only scenario under consideration.
“Behind that evaluation of who’s emerging in camp, there’s also consolidation trades that could still be looked at — trading two guys out, bringing one in,” Pelinka said. “There’s a number of ways that that could be addressed.”
A two-for-one deal would solve the numerical problem without forcing the Lakers to release a guaranteed player for nothing. It also could allow them to turn an area of surplus into help at a position that remains unsettled, particularly on the wing.
The Lakers have approximately $8 million in room below the first-apron hard cap, giving them some ability to take back additional salary in a trade. Their options before opening night, however, are limited by league rules. Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton cannot be traded until Dec. 15 after signing new contracts this summer. They have committed most of their cap space to them, alongside homegrown star Austin Reaves.
That places greater attention on holdovers such as Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht and Jaden Hardy if Pelinka seriously explores a preseason deal. The Lakers also have several players on minimum contracts, including Kevon Looney, Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle.
Training Camp Will Shape Pelinka’s Decision
The decision will not be based entirely on salary.
Los Angeles has several overlapping skill sets near the back of its roster. Thybulle and Vanderbilt offer defensive versatility but carry offensive questions. Williams provides size on the wing, while Knecht supplies shooting. Adou Thiero, Cameron Carr and Bronny James remain developmental investments.
Redick now has several weeks to determine which players complement Luka Doncic and Reaves, which combinations can survive defensively and which reserves can earn dependable minutes.
For a team that lacked trustworthy depth during recent playoff runs, the predicament is not unwelcome. It is still a decision with consequences. Every player holds a guaranteed contract, meaning a conventional cut would leave the Lakers paying someone to play elsewhere.
“The back-end point of it will be before we play the Warriors,” Pelinka said. “The next month will kind of answer those questions.”
The deadline is fixed. Pelinka is leaving the method — and the identity of the player who goes — deliberately unresolved.
Lakers Considering Trade as Rob Pelinka Sets Roster Deadline