The Los Angeles Lakers finally made a move after nearly two years of inaction by acquiring Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton from the Brooklyn Nets. The Lakers parted with D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three second-round picks to make this move happen. While it is a significant cost to the Lakers, they have plenty of additional assets to move if they want to make more additions to the roster.
There are clear roster needs for the Lakers still which would require them to land some crucial bench upgrades after Finney-Smith’s addition gave the Lakers one of the strongest starting fives in the NBA. But Russell’s departure leaves a massive scoring hole on the bench while the team still doesn’t have an adequate backup behind Anthony Davis at center.
The Lakers are expected to stay open for business, so let’s take a look at what remaining assets they can offer to other franchises to land the final pieces on what could be a contending roster.
First-Round Picks
Remaining Picks: 2027 First-Round Pick (1-4 LAL, 5-30 UTA), 2029 First-Round Pick (LAL), 2030 First-Round Pick (LAL), 2031 First-Round Pick (LAL)
The Lakers have two tradeable first-round picks and one pick swap to offer in additional deals. Their 2027 pick is already headed to the Utah Jazz in all likelihood, with the pick being top-four protected after it was dealt in 2023 to facilitate the Russell Westbrook salary dump which brought D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt to the Lakers.
Given the Lakers starting five is mostly complete, there doesn’t seem to be any move for a major player that could benefit from the inclusion of a first-round pick. The best way to use these picks would be to either hold onto them to send another protected pick out to land multiple bench contributors by sending out some of the mid-range contracts on the roster like Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt.
The Lakers have brought back a lot of control to their own picks after spending years paying out the Anthony Davis trade from 2019, with the final pick from that deal being conveyed in the 2025 NBA Draft. The lack of other picks comes from poor decisions, primarily the trade to acquire Russell Westbrook which cost them multiple picks.
Rob Pelinka won’t be hasty with moving these picks, with a protected 2029 pick being the most likely available asset in the Lakers kitty right now. But with teams actively holding onto first-round picks and not trading them away, the Lakers could make a multi-player splash by including a pick and getting multiple rotational players in return.
Second-Round Picks
Remaining Picks: 2025 Second-Round Pick (LAC)
The Lakers quite literally emptied the cabinet of second-round picks to ensure Finney-Smith joins the franchise. They have one second-round pick remaining which will come from the Los Angeles Clippers this season. It could have greater value at the start of the season when many anticipated the Clippers would miss the Playoffs, but that pick looks like it will convey in the 40s this season.
This isn’t a major asset, as no team will give the Lakers a player upgrade for just one second-round pick, unless the Clippers fall apart between now and February, boosting the value of this pick in a loaded draft. But in all honesty, it seems like the Lakers would be better off keeping this pick off-limits in a trade.
Adding a second-round player in the summer from a loaded draft class might be a better move long-term for the Lakers, who are notorious for developing their second-round picks into rotational players. Max Christie is the latest example of this, going from the second round in 2022 to starting nine games for the Lakers this season.
The Lakers could add some second-rounders if they use a first in a trade for role-players to get value back instead of overpaying for a player who’ll most likely be a bench addition for the franchise. Second-round picks have proven to be more valuable in recent years with their frequency in trades, so they could add a few before the deadline is up with specific trades.
Tradeable Contracts
Jarred Vanderbilt (4 years, $48.0 million), Jalen Hood-Schifino (1 year, $3.8 million), Jaxson Hayes (1 year, $2.4 million), Christian Wood (1 year, $3.0 million), Cam Reddish (1 year, $2.4 million), Gabe Vincent (2 years, $22.5 million)
The Lakers have plenty of players they could still move in trades given their infrequent roles in their rotation. Gabe Vincent is the only player in the rotation who would qualify in this list of tradeable contracts, but his $11.0 million could be used for a much more productive player in his role. If you add Jarred Vanderbilt’s $10.7 million, the two combined could bring a major difference-maker to the Lakers.
It seems that the Lakers won’t adjust their starting lineup primarily because of the success of Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura as starters. Finney-Smith will be most effective while playing alongside star players like LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the starting five to maximize spacing, so any deal they make should reinforce the team’s bench.
Vincent and Vanderbilt combined could easily bring a backup big and guard to the franchise. This might be the time for the Lakers to make a move like getting both Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton from the Jazz, as paying a first for them is reasonable and they would be great bench pieces for this season.
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