The Los Angeles Lakers dropped to 26-17 in this 2025-26 season with a 112-104 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome on Thursday. The Lakers had a rough first half here, and postgame, head coach JJ Redick said his players didn’t trust each other on the offensive end. That led to Redick being asked how trust can wane from game to game or throughout a season, and he took a bit of a shot at the front office.
“I think it just goes back to the human element of everything,” Redick said. “And guys are worried about their futures, and that’s what happens when you got a team full of free agents and player options. I think it’s just natural that you’re going to worry about the offense, and I’ve been there. You can get in your head a little bit, ‘Ah man, played five minutes haven’t got a shot yet,’ and that’s that’s a human thing. It’s not anybody’s fault.”
With the Lakers’ front office reportedly prioritizing having a max salary slot in 2027, they weren’t all too interested in handing out long-term deals this past offseason. Jake LaRavia, Marcus Smart, and Deandre Ayton were all signed to just two-year contracts.
Smart and Ayton have player options for the second year, so this season is basically an audition for them. Play well enough, and they can potentially get a bigger deal from either the Lakers or another team in the summer of 2026.
As for the rest of the roster, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber, and Jaxson Hayes will all be hitting free agency after this season. Austin Reaves will almost certainly join them, as he has a $14.9 million player option for 2026-27.
So, LaRavia aside, that’s eight players who are either going to be free agents in 2026 or have a player option for 2026-27. They’d want to show their best as they get closer to hitting the market. While that can help a team, it can also hurt it. The players in question might start chasing stats instead of making the right play.
While the front office’s strategy might help Redick in the form of a big-name player joining the Lakers in the summer of 2026 or 2027, it’s not necessarily great for him at the moment. If we put player and team options aside, the only players under contract with the team for next season are LaRavia, Luka Doncic, Jarred Vanderbilt, Bronny James, and Adou Thiero.
Doncic was the only one whom the Lakers locked up long-term in the offseason. He was given a three-year, $165 million extension, with a $57.7 million player option for 2028-29.
Doncic is the present and the future of the franchise, and the Lakers obviously have no intention of parting ways with him. You’d imagine Reaves falls into this category as well, and he should get a long-term deal in the summer. Everyone else on this roster could be gone this summer or by the next one, either via free agency or trades. Is that ideal? No.
Redick has to make things work, though, and this is a test of his man-management skills. Will he sink or swim? Time will tell.
We’ll see the Lakers in action next against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on Saturday at 8:30 PM ET.
