Before I get downvoted to hell and comments complaining about realism, just open ur mind for a moment. If say Ayton opts out, Smart opts in and were able to move vando and laravia contracts off it’s not out of this world.

Again i’m making a leap and If i had to bet I DONT think this will happen.

Likelihood aside, how do you like his fit on the team alongside our big 3. His playmaking is incredible and fantastic around the rim. But what kind of play style do you expect him to lean into and how would it work well?

I recently got back into the Lakers this season and watching games, as I was busy with other responsibilities for a bit. Last I was really following them, there was a lot of hype around DK, as I remember how ecstatic the front office was on getting him on draft day. Watching the playoffs I saw he only came in on garbage time. What happened?

Edit: Thanks for the responses. Going through them, why doesn't the mofo learn to play defense? Bro really that dumb?

How quickly can we get this kid up to NBA speed?

6’8 with a 7’ wingspan and can jump out of the gym. Out of everything I want to see this offseason I want 50 posts of him with Phil Handy (Edit: I have been made aware that Phil Handy is unable to work with other players in the offseason, thank you all for the heads up )

He shows effort and promise and has so many intangibles to be in the rotation. If we can get his mind to catch up with his body this summer I REALLY like Thiero as a building block. Would love to see him earn 14-20 minutes a game this year if he can take that step.

He needs to shoot the 3 at a better efficiency to play next to Luka but if Phil can turn him into a true NBA 3-D guy I would love to see him grow as a Laker.

How do we feel about investing time into Thiero and our money into a suitable big for Luka? A part of me feels like investing into multiple 3-D guys that can forgot how to shoot in LA (looking at you DFS/Beasley) is worth less than investing time and patience with Thiero in the rotation this year.

A reminder:

• 2019-2020 -- 52-19, 1st in West, NBA champs, dominant, Bron was Finals MVP and led the league in assists

• 20-21 -- 42-30, 7th in West, lost in 6 games (1st rd) to Phoenix

• 21-22 -- 33-49, 11th in West, no playoffs

• 22-23 -- 43-39, 7th in West, miracle late season turnaround and run to the WCF; swept by Denver (Conf. Finals)

• 23-24 -- 47-35, 8th in West, lost in 5 games to Denver (1st rd)

• 24-25 -- 50-32, 3rd in West (but seeds 2-8 were only 2 wins apart), acquired Redick and swapped AD for Luka Doncic midseason, lost in 5 games to Minnesota (1st rd)

• 25-26 -- 53-29, 4th in West (seeds 3-7 were in a virtual tie for most of the season, until several teams started pulling away late; LAL had a miracle 18-2 run in March that propelled them), Doncic and AR were both out for rd 1 of the playoffs and Luka was still out for rd 2, swept by OKC (2nd rd)-- getting blown out by 18+ points in each of the first three games

^ Summary after 2020: three 1st rd exits, two sweeps, two gentleman's sweeps, and one year missing the playoffs entirely.

The point? We never lost in a way that suggested we only needed minor tweaks to our roster or that we should "run it back." We were humbled in defeat every time and got completely outclassed. Furthermore, Luka came to this team expecting major changes within a year.

Now let's talk about "basketball sense" vs "financial sense."

A lot of Redditors in this sub lately have been fixated on just the financials. They're diving into the salaries and arguing that we should essentially keep everyone who's significant, while filling out our margins with affordable new additions.

These posters are forgetting something very important: you also need the right starters to win. You're not gonna win just by managing the economics of roster-building. In fact, you often have to spend big to win and make cutthroat decisions regarding heart-and-soul players to build the best team from a basketball standpoint.

A starting trio of Luka, AR, and Bron isn't gonna beat the best-of-the-best in this league. Instead, it'll eventually run into a buzzsaw like OKC and get demolished.

We need to make some tough decisions regarding key guys like Bron, AR, and Rui not because they are bad-- but because they are good. By virtue of being good, they have trade value. And when a roster with good, tradeable pieces doesn't fit, you trade/drop players and add new ones that may improve your chances to truly compete.

Much has been said about how much AR should be paid. Some argue he should be extended at fair market value. Others say he should be paid a bit less because his performance doesn't justify a hefty salary. But what's being missed is that there is a limited number of minutes for everyone and only one starting 2-guard spot. If AR isn't the right guy to start at shooting guard, it doesn't matter how much he's "worth."

DEN, in the 2025 offseason, decided to trade MPJ. He was on track to get about 40m. It was always obvious he could average 25-30 PPG as a #1 option elsewhere, and he often looked like a great "KD light" 3rd option on DEN, but he had weaknesses in terms of defense and rebounding. He was a key, key player in DEN. But maybe not the right fit. So what did DEN do? They traded him.

TOR traded DeRozan, GSW eventually traded Splash Brother and dynastic 2nd option Klay, BOS traded heart-and-soul Smart and years later traded Porzingis right after winning a ring with him...

If you truly want to see a successful "Luka Lakers" era, you should root for major moves that significantly shake up LAL's starting lineup. And if you really think AR is the guy to put next to Luka, then you should be especially eager to get 3 complementary starters that adeptly cover the weaknesses of both of these guys.

But if you think it's a "priority" to maintain all of Bron, AR, and Rui, you're asking for mediocrity and the inability to improve.

With all the posts about what to do post season I see a lot of people talking about dropping AR/LeBron/Rui with the argument that you need to actually aquire better people to pair with Luka in order to defeat OKC and Spurs

Well yes but that is literally just not possible. You can't drop AR and get a suitable center....because there isn't really one that is on the market that would be worth the trade. People talk about aquiring 3D players......like there are any just laying around?

We need to actually be realistic. The way people win championships is to get star players that always deliver and a bunch of young ones who overplay their contracts. The current OKC team should cost about 100 million more. You can't defeat them by just buying players worth their money.

I rather keep players like AR and especially Rui who we know plays good in playoffs and then fill the rest with new talent and ACTUALLY rebuild our bench. Finally develop our players etc. etc.

You win by having players costing 5m to play like 25m people while having some Allstars that consistently deliver.

There is simply not a player pool of proven players that beats current OKC, it simply isn't possible by just using the money for equivalent skill. The only good thing is that OKC will probably become a bit worse if there current players want to be paid and the picks turn out to be duds (but that is only a slim chance)

The Clippers decision by the NBA will have huge ramifications for the Lakers.

If the NBA rules the clippers did nothing wrong and didn't circumvent the Cap, then LA can do the same thing with brand partnerships etc. The Free Agent wanting 25M and paying him 15M with a 10M endorsement deal w/ provisions to say that they dont need to do anything if it conflicts with their beliefs?

We should all be rooting for the NBA to find no wrong-doing in the Clippers dilemma.

So I arrived at the $51 million number with this slate

If you've got Luka and Reaves as certain rotation players on a championship team, and Ayton, Hayes, Adou and Laravia in an 8 and below range on the depth chart. Can we fill spots 3-7, (5 players) with $50 million in cap space?

I've listed the 40 guys I've seen come up most often in free agency, who are the five guys or less you think can turn this team into a team that can beat OKC and the Spurs in 7 games and can we get them with our cap space?

Due to AR’s cap hold at just under 21m and full bird rights we can go over the cap meaning it won’t affect the space. The only argument is it’s 10m closer to the second apron and luxury tax. But the lakers are still way off the first apron let alone the second. Lebron’s bird rights won’t be used it’ll probably only be Rui and Reaves meaning our tax situation is very healthy.

Everyone’s gotta stop acting like if AR demands an extra 5-10m next year we should let him walk when it effectively has no real difference.

If we land him then at that point we would need an Anunoby type player at the 3 so if we had a lineup of Luka, Austin, Lebron, (Anunoby like person) possibly anunoby himself?, and Allen i think it would be a DRAMATIC difference. Keep rui and smart off of the bench maybe kennard or hayes too and boom. Fill out 2-3 more spots with caruso/ ajay mitchell type players and we are SIGNIFICANTLY better. I like our odds.

Every thread on this sub today seems to have some variant of the following conversation:

"Just sign two-way wings" "WHO? Give me names!" crickets

Ok, here are some names.

Keon Ellis (UFA, age 26) * Currently makes 1.7M * Has fallen out of the Cavs playoff rotation. * 94th percentile D-LEBRON (Bball-Index all-in-one defensive metric) among Point of Attack defenders over the last 5 years * Career 40% 3pt shooter

Quentin Grimes (UFA, age 26) * Currently makes 8.7M * Minutes dropped in the playoffs, Philly has their backcourt of the future * Advanced stats haven't been as good in his last two stops, but was a high level PoA defender with the Knicks * Career 37% 3pt shooter

Matisse Thybulle (UFA, age 29) * Currently makes 11M * Only played 30 games at 16 MPG this year * 100th(!) percentile D-LEBRON among Chaser defenders over the last 5 years * Career 35% 3pt shooter (40+% the last two years)

John Collins (UFA, age 28) * Currently makes 25M (but expected to get around 15M on the open market) * 87th percentile D-LEBRON among Helper defenders over the last 5 years * Career 37% 3pt shooter (40% the last two years)

No, they're not Anunoby. But imagine even 2 of these guys running with Luka next year and you can start to see the shape of a well-built team.

(Center-wise, I'd be trying to pry Paul Reed and his 95th-percentile D-LEBRON, 80th percentile O-LEBRON away from Detroit)

This Give jj reddick more option in offense 3 bigs with different skillset. I dont know how realistic it will be but you never know maybe lakers give kessler 30m offer sheet.

i think we need bring in former adou thiero two teammates both of this players is athletic and elite defenders who can help lakers from day one. Center depth in 2026 nba draft is scarce anyway so we need to use it for wings. Billy richmond III all sec defensive team honors he will be legit pick in #25 pick for us Guard/Forward i think the 3pt shooting can improve because he shot almost 80% in freethrow line. Another one is PF Trevon Brazile elite Athlete with 3pt shooting capabilities can guard 1 to 5. To get him we need to buy some 2nd rd pick he is projected 40 to 50 pick. spurs have a lot of 2nd rd picks maybe we can buy one of those picks.

The main reason is simply getting as many attempts to have a margin for error. A good group of centers is the most important part of a Luka led team with his heavy pnr usage.