The Los Angeles Lakers are in the thick of the Playoff race in the Western Conference this season, but it’s important to remember this is very much a roster in transition. They acquired Luka Doncic in a trade opportunity they couldn’t refuse when the Dallas Mavericks offered it to them. After a subsequent trade for a center fell through, the Lakers are finishing this season off with clear roster needs for the summer.
While there is competitive juice in the roster as currently composed, the team isn’t the clear on-paper favorite in the West by any means. They could compete because of their top-end talent, but their real contention season might be next year after they get to retool the roster over the offseason.
With limited room in free agency outside a potential LeBron James pay cut, the Lakers have limited options on the open market. Let’s take a look at one free-agent signing they could make with ease and another that they might want to explore but won’t be able to.
Realistic: Dennis Schroder
Dennis Schroder is a former Laker who’s had two stints with the franchise already. He played an integral role in their run to the 2023 Western Conference Finals before electing to sign with the Toronto Raptors in the 2023 offseason instead of the Lakers, who spent their open space on the slightly cheaper Gabe Vincent. However, Vincent hasn’t come close to replicating Schroder’s production on either end of the court in his two-year stint. He’s a free agent in the summer.
Schroder is averaging 13.2 points and 5.4 assists this season. He averaged 13.9 points and 5.1 assists over his last two stints with the Lakers. While it’ll be a new core, he’d be the perfect sixth-man guard behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. If the Lakers can move Vincent to acquire a center, they will need to fill the backup guard role by landing someone like Schroder.
His market is hard to gauge because he has spent the 24-25 season with three teams. He’s been traded four times on this contract he signed in 2023, so it doesn’t appear like Schroder would have an expensive market. If he wants stability, returning to the place where he rebuilt his career after two rough seasons might be a great move.
This is a signing well within the Lakers means this summer and is one that could wind up having the most bang for the buck for them.
Unrealistic: Clint Capela
The absolute number one position of priority for the Lakers this summer will be a center. Their failed acquisition of Mark Williams was essentially an admission that they feel their center depth is inadequate, and they’ll look to reinforce it in the summer. While retaining Jaxson Hayes for the rotation will be important, acquiring a veteran center like Clint Capela might be the best move for them, but also one that’s unrealistic.
Capela is averaging 8.9 points and 8.5 rebounds this season, slowly losing minutes to younger backup Onyeka Okongwu on the Atlanta Hawks. Capela isn’t the monster double-double threat he was a few years ago, but there are few centers more capable than him for what the Lakers need. He’s a rim-finisher and protector who’s an enforcer and rebounds aggressively. It’s exactly what they need.
This is an unrealistic option for two reasons. Capela is a free agent in the summer and could fetch a decent contract from many teams who might just appreciate his veteran instincts. I can’t see LeBron taking a pay cut to create room to pay Capela somewhere between $15-20 million, so the most feasible way of making this happen would be a sign-and-trade.
It’s hard to work that out because the Lakers would want to retain their players in a similar contract range like Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith. A sign-and-trade also hard caps the team at the first apron, so there’s basically no way the Lakers will accept those compromises to sign the 30-year-old center.
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