2026 - FREE AGENT Ideas for the Lakers Post Lebron James Era

There are many quality players who are free agents. Some with 2025 salaries around $30M like Portzingas...

The Lakers have Rui, Luke, Jaxson and Marcus to resign from Free Agency. If they are looking at Lou Dort, why not keep Marcus?

Golden State is trying to sign both LeBron and Anthony Davis...

Other available free agents who I think would be quality additions to the Lakers in descending order of value:

Norman Powell

Jalen Duran

Walker Kessler

Peyton Watson

Jonathan Kuminga / John Collins / Tari Eason

Tobias Harris (if Rui leaves)

Anfernee Simons / Jordan Clarkson / Ben Mathurin

Thomas Bryant (If Jaxson leaves)

Cam Thomas

Demar DeRozan

Both Kessler and Duran are interviewing with the Lakers. Rumor has it that Duren prefers the Kings, a phrase never previously uttered in the history of the NBA. Expect the Lakers to go in strong for him...

The Blazers and the SUNs have already significantly improved their rosters. The Lakers are doomed if they bring back a high priced LeBron. They have to move on to compete unless he's willing to take a small salary...

Well, you don’t need to worry about that. He’s not coming back. It was made official today by both him and the Lakers that his stint with the Lakers is over. Reports are that he will be playing for another team next season. Likely GS but since he’s in Akron right now, he could be headed back to the Cavs.

No more Lebron and I supposes no more Bronny as well. But definitely try to re-sign Hayes, though the FO was probably disappointed that Ayton opted in. Duren is a powerful player inside and it'd be big to get him. Norman Powell should be a good fit playing alongside Luka.

LeBron is moving on so move past it LA and grab Kuminga and Powell and Duren...

Did they sign Powell?

I think Ayton sort of f'ed us by opting in. Stuck with the dude now.

HALLELUJAH!!! James is leaving the Lakers!! Finally!! 8 long years of waiting for this day! Can’t wait till it’s official!

I don't know. The guy gave us a championship. We should show some support and respect. Yes, we should focus on our future, but you can't argue that we would have lost the Rockets series if it wasn't for him. Even with him not coming back, we appear to not have any money for reasonable FA's. It seems crazy to me that we are so financially irresponsible.

The Suns signed Luke Kennard for 2 years $13.4 Million. The Lakers could not match this?

What the heck are they doing? They just opened up a huge amount of money to spend. Stalking stars again which is gonna kill their future success if they don't fill out the roster with talented role players like they so often fail to do...

Dang stupid letting him go...

Apparently Lakers are on the verge of signing Grimes and Mamu:

Likely that Lakers didn't extend an offer and Kennard just snatched that PHX one when it came up. Not sure why as he was a key cog of the late run last season.

Not impressed by this at all. Lakers front office has a way of sugar coating a massive pile of ****. “Look, we are doing something!!!” This team is going to be worse that last year while everyone around us is getting better. Lakers management is absolute trash.

I like this if it goes down.

2 years ago, Grimes was a dynamic guard who reminded me of Bradley Beal and Mamoo is a very gritty forward who can shoot the ball. Due to an injury, when given a chance to start, I picked him up on my Fantasy team for a few weeks and he was giving me 35-40 per week which translated to about 18-8-3 in starters minutes.

Perhaps the new Lakers management will reverse the trend of great shooters going to the Lakers to die, but now with LeBron gone, this will attract players who know they do not need to take a back seat simply because he's on the team and wants 45 games dedicated to his final season. For the record, I am glad he announced early because he would have held the Lakers hostage if he had not.

For me, Kuminga, Powell and either Kessler or Duren and it's a wrap. Not sure how to keep Rui if this all goes down, but that ought to be a priority now that LeBron has exited.

And now they let Marcus Smart go to the Rockets!

Is there a strategy to this apparent idiocy?

Yes there is, hold out for publicly recognized stars and then complain that the role players are not pulling their weight on defense or hitting 3 point shots. The Lakers just gave away All NBA defense and one of the best 3 point shooters in the NBA! Somebody please explain. Building around Luka does not mean razing the house and building back an igloo....

You'd think the new $10B management might influence the thinking somewhat? Perhaps they are on a 10 year plan? Perhaps they are participating in the Gavin 'let's disconnect all of the hydrants before and during a catastrophic fire' Newsome's (Pelosi's nephew) blatant destruction of a great state?

Jalen Duren is meeting with the Lakers again this Wednesday morning. I assume LeBron's departure has something to do with that. To 'prefer the Kings' translates as not preferring to play with LeBron.

Maybe the Lakers will get both Duren and Kessler and Luka can toss hookshot lob until the cows come home? I assume they will be letting Jaxson go too. What a kick in the nuts to Jax if that occurs...

LeBron claims that the Lakers are 'Building for the Future', while everyone else knows they are building to maximize Luka's opportunities right now. Justifications abound. I think he left the Lakers when Jeannie said that he was not appreciative enough when they drafted Bronny. I hope Bronny stays in LA as he is a very good defender and will be impactful given the chance. Would love to see him dunk on Daddy too...

This team is going to suck. By the way, we will hear the same narrative as last year, “These guys need to build chemistry. Give it another year.”

Lakers got Kessler for $130M over 4 years...

Not a lob threat but he combines the skills of Jax and DeAndre into one player with exceptional rebounding skills. Can he handle lobs? Probably not, so Kuminga must be acquired! Powell was picked up by Chicago...

He's nimble for a big man. He runs the floor and moves well without the ball. Definitely an upgrade and not the max salary that Duren would command. He reminds me of Kevin McHale and his incredible dexterity around the basket, plus, he can hit the three.

Happy about this. Here is my only concern. We have been prioritizing the 5 position, which made a lot of sense with last years lineup. Our entire starting lineup is gone aside from Austin and Luka (I am assuming Rui is gone too). We have lost a lot and most left right around the time Lebron made his announcement. Either way, I am happy about Kessler. Do you think he will start or do you think they will sign Duren and start him? Will they even sign Duren now?

Lakers moving fast today.

They contracted Mamoo and Grimes as predicted as well Colin Sexton who is a quality back up guard.

Why do the Lakers forget players like Quincy Oliveri?

Lots of movement. I would imagine Mamoo would play the 4?

Definitely not wasting anytime with the new signings.

Los Angeles is going to like this guy... He's gritty like Caruso though is 6'-9, and his stats were 11-5-2 despite limited playing time. Maybe the Lakers go and get Caruso back which I have been clamoring for for years as well! Caruso is one of the quiet reasons OKC was so good last year filling in defense and points in quantity when the starters took a breather. Mamoo is Eastern European, from Georgia, rather than mainland Europe, and embodies the cultural differences regarding history and attitude. He's not wimpy in other words... Would love to see Kessler shave his head and grow a beard and bring that Viking verve too!

Curiously, if Dalton somehow remains on the team and gets some PT, the Lakers could position the first all-Anglo team rotation since the 1950's LOL. Speaking of Dalton, he was consistently called the best practice player on the team last year so he needs a psychologist, not another team. Shell shocked by the broken trade, he seemed helpless in the presence of his circumstances. The times they are a changin'.

Stern and Silver certainly are converting the NBA into a European style league, in more ways than one, right before our eyes... The aggression-less, mamby-pamby shift in style is in part what KD was complaining about because it reflects badly on Black American culture and significantly impacts the athletic advantage that Black Americans have brought to the game. The Commie-missioners could always make Naismith happy and bring back the peach basket too!

And by the way, the current grade, by Bleacher Report, for the Kessler acquisition is a C+ given that his career average is 9-9 over a 4 year career (1 season spent injured btw). They Lakers are paying him $35M / year and included 4 future first rounders to get him. Probably could have acquired Duren for that. So the $10M new management is like the Warriors and have no apparent concern paying luxury taxes...

So what now? Can they keep Rui and Vando and Hayes and Knecht or are the gutting the entire team? Continuity is the most valuable asset of any winning team. Gonna be years it seems before another championship in Lakers land it seems!

I keep seeing a little round icon in the upper left of the entries windows. I clicked it an it's an AI page summary maker with a sidebar. Is this an LNS feature or an Apple Safari feature?

LeBron wants to have fun and compete for a championship in his final season(s). Apparently the Lakers are on a different track.

Hayes signed with the Jazz.

And Jaxson Hayes just signed with Kessler's former team the Jazz, who have multiple centers already, implying that he's gonna be 3rd or 4th string center wtf? They have Jaren Jackson, Jusuf Nurcik, Kyle Filipowski and now Jax... Taking Jax into that situation is also a head scratcher...

So the Lakers management are gutting the roster! Is this the new crew or you know who?

If I were Luka I would be borderline furious... Remember that Jax acquired a foreign passport and National status in Slovenia so he could play with Luka in a Euroleague...

It just registered that the Lakers are potentially getting nothing back for LeBron unless it turns into a Sign and Trade. If he goes to Miami, and it seems that Pat Riley is using his magic to swing such a deal, who would the Lakers get in return? "If he picks a team with enough cap room or a big enough exception, they have no incentive to give up assets in a sign�'and�'trade, so the Lakers really could end up with nothing but cap/tax flexibility and future picks from other deals." So the Lakers are waiting on LeBron anyway and perhaps let Jax go given a play on Jarrett Allen too?! Again re Miami, the Heat traded Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis plus picks to Milwaukee to get Giannis Antetokounmpo, so they are gone. Terry Rozier has been waived, and Andrew Wiggins has opted in and agreed to an extension locking him in as part of their Giannis/Bam/Wiggins front line. It's easy to see that LeBron would be a great addition to a Heat superteam with not a whit coming back to the Lakers except money and picks perhaps. I hope therefore that LeBron signs with Cleveland who have players worth adding less Dean Wade, another Anglo LOL. What about the Warriors? They are not serious contenders at this time and being friends with Curry is not enough to for him to sign there imo. My take is the Miami and Cleveland are the only true choices LeBron would make therefore, given that Wiggins is agonizingly inconsistent and not worthy imo to join the Lakers, Sam Merrill and or Max Strus (two more Anglos LOL) are the only names that make sense given the 3-point shooting. I wanted to see....

BTW, Colin Sexton is a very good player. He does not get the notoriety that he deserves. Career average of around 15ppg but in recent years it's closer to 20ppg. The Lakers did not have that player last year as well he's a relentless defender so one could argue that he's a significant upgrade from Marcus Smart... He falls into the Jalen Green category of players because he's very fast and is a professional scorer.

Several new superteams are emerging including Philly who traded for Jalen Brown. What?

Lot of moves being made by the Lakers it is going to take a while to analyze the moves. I do like the signing of Sexton, he is a good player.

PG: Luka Doncic, Collin Sexton Austin Reaves, Quentin Grimes, Bronny James.

SG: Reaves, Grimes, Sexton, Cameron Carr, Jake LaRavia.

Sf: LaRavia, Carr, Adou Thiero, Dalton Knecht, Chris Manon

PF: Jarred Vanderbilt, LaRavia, Thiero, Drew Timme, AK Okereke

C: Walker Kessler, Deandre Ayton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Timme

Sandro is more of a PF...

The Lakers quickly signed seven undrafted players immediately following the draft, some with contracts for the summer league roster and developmental pipeline. Maybe they will find a diamond on the rough just like they did with Reaves.

Kuminga is not the first person you think of regarding defense, either way, it seems that if they pick him up they are letting Rui go, unless they offer him a smaller number...

Hi Dave, are you intending to start Guess the Game in Vegas or in California (CA Classic) starting this Friday (July 3rd)?

https://lakersnation.com/full-lakers-2026-summer-league-schedule-roster/

Quentin Grimes is a pure shooter. I see the same quality in the Rookie Carr.

That video on this Grimmes kid is very impressive. Seems like he is a very good player. A lot of good players are by passed on the draft and that is where good scouting comes into the picture. I have not read all the posts but I did see the video from Skyeword on Grimmes. And that is what I was referring to finding a diamond on the rough with good scouting.

Grimes, Carr and Sexton are a strong second team as they all have starter skills... It's the forward gap in the middle, especially if the Lakers lose Rui, which remains the issue. If they can find a way to secure Rui and Kuminga, the Lakers can contend. I make the assumption that Knecht, who can score 20 points in the blink of an eye, simply needs some emotional support, truly. Maybe someone said something to him after the trade fell apart? Maybe he overheard the coaches calling him lackluster? I recall thinking that he did not want to be in the NBA given his slow-poke and low energy effort despite which several people were suggesting that he enter the dunk contest. If he can get his heart right and Thiero brings his athleticism and 15-5 capabilities from the G League to the NBA, with Kuminga and/or Rui in the mix, I figure that gap is filled too. There's too much uncertainty though. Management has played their cards and are all in for years, so it has to work or it will fail catastrophically...

Yup just added thanks for the reminder!

Lakers just traded Ayton for ANOTHER shooting guard Jaden Ivey...

He was the $5 Pick in 2022 by Detroit and had a strong Rookie season...

Why not grab a forward?

Now they are looking for a cheap back up Center like Andre Drummond? Did Jax leave without consulting with the Lakers? Go get old man Dwight Howard!

https://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/lakers_linked_to_3_veteran_centers_after_deandre_ayton_trade_who_fits_best/s1_16616_44024899

Looks like Drummond signed with the Knicks. I’d strongly consider Jonas. Haven’t heard of Looney. Thoughts?

Looney played for the Warriors during their championship runs. Does not score much but is a strong rebounder...

Oh, obviously 🙄. Good riddance!! See ya!!

There’s no superteams. They’ve got brown and an always hurt Embiid. Do You think Giannis would want to play with a 42 year old LeBum?

Rui Hachimora was just signed by the Clippers...

Yet another DUMB move by the franchise.

So no LeBron and no Rui, they have to get Kuminga or Peyton Watson...

I think the Lakers ought to keep Bronny. He's turning into a another LeBron physically and his defense is excellent. I think he ought to be assessed on his own terms moving forward. On the other hand, the Lakers already have too many guards!

Hi Dave, I just responded to you PM. I cannot see my response. Perhaps a glitch in the new system I speculate?