Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2026 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Free agent signings
Austin Reaves: Four years, $180,000,000. Fourth-year player option. Re-signed using Bird rights.
Walker Kessler: Four years, $129,467,930. Fourth-year player option. Trade kicker (15%). Acquired from Jazz via sign-and-trade using cap room.
Quentin Grimes: Four years, $60,000,000. Fourth-year player option. Signed using cap room.
Sandro Mamukelashvili: Four years, $52,000,000. Fourth-year player option. Signed using cap room.
Collin Sexton: Two years, $19,200,300. Second-year player option. Signed using room exception.
Kevon Looney: One year, minimum salary. Fully guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Matisse Thybulle: One year, minimum salary. Fully guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Ziaire Williams: One year, minimum salary. Fully guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Trades
Acquired the draft rights to Cameron Carr (No. 24 pick) from the Knicks in a four-team trade in exchange for the draft rights to Louis Labeyrie, the draft rights to Chinemelu Elonu, and cash ($3MM).
Acquired the draft rights to Vsevolod Ishchenko (No. 56 pick) from the Bulls in exchange for cash ($1,714,000).
Acquired cash ($1.7MM) from the Mavericks in exchange for the draft rights to Vsevolod Ishchenko (No. 56 pick).
Acquired Jaden Hardy, the Wizards’ 2031 second-round pick, and the Wizards’ 2032 second-round pick from the Wizards in exchange for Deandre Ayton.
Acquired Walker Kessler (via sign-and-trade) from the Jazz in exchange for the Lakers’ 2031 first-round pick, the Lakers’ 2033 first-round pick, the right to swap 2028 first-round picks, and the right to swap 2030 first-round picks.
Draft picks
1-24: Cameron Carr
Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $16,821,493). First two years guaranteed. Third- and fourth-year team options.
Two-way signings
Arthur Kaluma
One year, $91,000 partial guarantee (will increase to $339,441 at start of regular season).
Chris Manon
One year, $91,000 partial guarantee (will increase to $339,441 at start of regular season).
AK Okereke
One year, $91,000 partial guarantee.
Departed/unsigned free agents
Jaxson Hayes (Jazz)
Rui Hachimura (Clippers)
LeBron James (Sixers)
Luke Kennard (Suns)
Maxi Kleber (unsigned)
Marcus Smart (Rockets)
Nick Smith Jr. (unsigned)
Drew Timme (unsigned)
Other roster moves
Signed Peter Suder to a two-way contract and then waived him.
Salary cap situation
Note: Figures are rounded to one decimal place.
Operating over the cap ($165MM) and below the first tax apron ($209MM).
Hard-capped at first apron.
Team salary: $200.9MM (tax/apron).
Above luxury tax line by $469K; below hard cap by $8.1MM.
No cap exceptions available.
The offseason so far
It’s been a busy summer in Los Angeles. Majority owner Mark Walter recently agreed to sell his controlling stake in the Lakers at a $12.5 billion valuation just 14 months after reaching an agreement to buy the team for a record-setting valuation of $10 billion and less than 10 months after the NBA’s Board of Governors approved that sale.
Assuming Walter’s sale goes through, the new majority owners will be Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger. Kusher founded venture capital firm Thrive Capital, which backed several tech startups. Iger, meanwhile, had two stints as the CEO of the Walt Disney Company (2005-20 and 2022-26) and now serves as an adviser to Thrive.
While the ownership news certainly came as a surprise, it was just the latest major change in an eventful Lakers offseason. LeBron James decided to leave L.A. after eight years with the organization — the four-time MVP and four-time champion signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract with Philadelphia at the end of July.
The Lakers also parted ways with Jaxson Hayes, Rui Hachimura, Luke Kennard and Marcus Smart, all of whom found new teams in free agency. Maxi Kleber, Nick Smith Jr. and Drew Timme, who ended last season with Los Angeles, have yet to sign with new clubs.
Just a few days after Deandre Ayton exercised his $8.1MM player option for 2026/27, the Lakers traded last season’s starting center to the Wizards for Jaden Hardy and a pair of second-round picks.
Renouncing those players’ rights and trading Ayton enabled the Lakers to maximize their cap room, which they used to overhaul their roster in free agency. The first major addition was restricted free agent Walker Kessler, and the Rob Pelinka-led front office paid a significant price to acquire the team’s new starting center in a sign-and-trade with Utah. In addition to giving Kessler a four-year, $129.5MM contract, the Lakers sent the Jazz two unprotected first-round picks and two first-round swaps.
Shortly after reaching an agreement to acquire Kessler on July 1, Pelinka quickly agreed to sign Quentin Grimes (four years, $60MM), Sandro Mamukelashvili (four years, $52MM) and Collin Sexton (two years, $19.2MM). Kessler, Grimes and Mamukelashvili were acquired using cap room, while Sexton was signed using the room exception.
After all of those moves were completed, the Lakers finalized their four-year, $180MM contract with Austin Reaves using his Bird rights. Reaves, Kessler, Grimes, Mamukelashvili and Sexton all received player options in the final years of their respective contracts.
The Lakers added some depth pieces this summer as well, essentially landing No. 24 overall pick Cameron Carr for $3MM in cash and signing veterans Kevon Looney, Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams to minimum-salary contracts.
For what it’s worth, star guard Luka Doncic expressed excitement last month about the Lakers’ new-look roster. He also recently said his hamstring is “100 percent healthy” after a Grade 2 strain caused him to miss the 2026 playoffs.
“I think we have a really good team,” Doncic said in July. “I’m very excited to start a new season. Obviously last season didn’t end how we wanted, so I’m very excited for the new one.”
Up next
With 16 players on guaranteed standard contracts, the Lakers are facing a bit of a roster crunch, as one of those players will have to be traded or waived before the regular season begins in October. Adou Thiero ($2.15MM) and Bronny James ($2.3MM) are technically owed the least guaranteed money, though Dalton Knecht ($4.2MM) seems to have fallen out of favor and is another candidate to be traded or cut.
The Lakers have reportedly expressed sign-and-trade interest in Jonathan Kuminga throughout the summer, but haven’t been able to find a contract structure that works for the 23-year-old forward. It’s also unclear if Atlanta would be willing to help facilitate a sign-and-trade, since Los Angeles doesn’t have much to offer in terms of appealing players (at least players the team is willing/able to move) or draft assets.
While Kuminga has been linked to L.A. throughout the offseason, there hasn’t been much chatter about potential fallback options as the team scours the market for an athletic forward to add to its frontcourt. Signing another free agent outright would exacerbate the Lakers’ roster crunch, but they’re still $8.1MM below their first-apron hard cap (and about $469K above the luxury tax line).
The only extension-eligible players for the Lakers this offseason are Bronny James and — as of Sept. 18 — Jarred Vanderbilt. It seems pretty safe to say neither player is likely to receive a new deal.
The impending sale is certainly worth monitoring leading up to the season. When will it be finalized? Who else will be part of the investment group? What do the new owners think of Pelinka and head coach JJ Redick? All open questions that we currently don’t have answers to.
Luke Adams contributed to this article.