It’s been a busy summer in Los Angeles. Coming off the addition of young center Walker Kessler and a slew of role-player signings, the roster is already looking very different than it did months ago.
Even so, these changes did not come without a great cost. The pursuit of Walker Kessler, in particular, has really starved the Lakers of future trade assets and limited their ability to retain their own free agents, like Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard, and, most notably, LeBron James. What’s worse is that Kessler’s new $130 million deal means the Lakers are set to pay $480 million for their three top guys. It’s a massive financial burden that puts even more pressure on the team to make it work with this talented young core.
“The Lakers now have no tradeable first-round draft picks over the next 7 years after this sign-and-trade for Walker Kessler,” reported Brett Siegel. “Los Angeles is now also committed to [$480] million between Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Walker Kessler.”
Luka Doncic will be the team’s highest-paid player next season, with $51 million owed. Austin Reaves is second with $41.2 million, while Walker is third with $29.1 million. Those three contracts are massive enough already, but the Lakers’ latest signings have added up to an incredible sum. Quentin Grimes, for example, is the next highest-paid role player on the team, with a $13.3 million salary for next season. Next is Jarred Vanderbilt at $12.4 million next season and Collin Sexton at $9.5 million. After opting in to his player option this summer, Deandre Ayton will be just the seventh-highest-paid player at $8.1 million.
In the end, it’s no secret the Lakers were desperate for a center, but nobody was quite sure how much they were willing to give up for one. In the Lakers’ case, it was a massive overpay that cost two future picks and two pick swaps. Nevertheless, getting Kessler was their top priority, and the Lakers believe it raises their ceiling as a team. The problem is, they no longer have any first-round picks to trade, all but eliminating their chances to make any significant moves next season.
Any real changes would have to come in free agency, but they already have so much money tied down to the “big three” that it limits what they can do. This summer alone, the Lakers committed $450 million in salaries to five players without a single All-Star appearance (Austin Reaves, Collin Sexton, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Walker Kessler). They are all on multi-year deals with player options, so anyone else they sign going forward would likely be for the veteran’s minimum.
For better or worse, the Lakers have gambled everything on this core, and failure is not an option. After hyping up this offseason for years, Luka Doncic expects results, and GM Rob Pelinka responded with a series of moves that have changed their rotation. The cost is high, and it has dwindled what little flexibility they had, but the Lakers hardly had a choice but to risk it all and build a team to compete for the foreseeable future.
