The Los Angeles Lakers are hoping to end the 2024-25 NBA season on a high after setting their franchise up for years by acquiring 26-year-old superstar Luka Doncic. The team has a franchise piece to build around in the post-LeBron James era, which will give them a clear blueprint on how to construct their roster over the summer.
As it stands, the Lakers will go into next season with nine players under contract. Doncic is the biggest name to head into next season, while crucial role players like Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves are also going to remain under contract. However, the team will be at the mercy of LeBron choosing his next move as the forward has a player option on his contract.
This might be a summer of major changes in LA, so let’s look at the players who have contracts for next season to stay in LA and who could be departing in free agency.
Players Under Contract
Luka Doncic – $45,999,660
Rui Hachimura – $18,259,250
Austin Reaves – $13,937,574
Jarred Vanderbilt – $11,571,429
Gabe Vincent – $11,500,000
Maxi Kleber – $11,000,000
Dalton Knecht – $4,010,160
Shake Milton – $3,000,000 (non-guaranteed)
Bronny James – $1,955,377
The Lakers will have a very competitive core of players on the roster for next season unless they trade them away in the offseason. Doncic is the key name, although he will be eligible for a contract extension that the Lakers will have to move fast on offering.
He’s under contract till 2026, so they are guaranteed to get him for next season.
Other players under contract till 2026 include most of the players on this list. Hachimura will be out of contract while Reaves will have a player option for $14.8 million, which he is expected to decline for a new deal.
Gabe Vincent and Maxi Kleber will also be free agents after next season, so the contract concerns will be greater heading into the 2026 free agency.
The only players under multi-year contracts are Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht, and Bronny James. Bronny is the only one who has a guaranteed contract for 2026-27, with both Vanderbilt and Kneht reliant on exercising contract options to extend their stay with the franchise.
All of this applies if none of them get traded before the end of next season, although the franchise can rest easy this summer. Oh wait, there’s a major name missing.
Player Options
LeBron James – $52,627,153
Dorian Finney-Smith $15,378,480
As has become customary every season, LeBron could be heading into free agency if he declines the $52.6 million player option on the contract he signed last season. James has usually declined these options to re-sign with the Lakers over the last seven seasons, but this year might be different.
If James decides next year, his 23rd in the NBA, will be his final season, he might as well accept his option which will keep his no-trade clause active for next year. He could renegotiate and do the same as well, but we think he’ll likely stay with the franchise and retire in Lakers colors.
Dorian Finney-Smith is an interesting potential free agent. His skill set is incredibly valuable, but he’ll be taking a huge risk by testing free agency and declining a $15.3 million option. He stands to benefit more with a full season on the Lakers next to his good friend Luka, alongside whom he has always performed well.
Free Agents
Jaxson Hayes – UFA
Cam Reddish – UFA
Markieff Morris – UFA
Alex Len – UFA
The outgoing free agents are all minuscule contributors on the franchise right now, except one who’s seen his role massively expanded mid-season.
The team already tried trading Cam Reddish to the Charlotte Hornets and failed, so it’s unlikely they bring him back as a free agent in the summer. Markieff Morris was an inclusion in the Doncic trade, but he might just return if the Lakers value him as a locker-room veteran the same way the Mavericks did when they signed him in the last two summers.
Alex Len was an emergency acquisition to add some center depth to the roster after the failed Mark Williams trade. He hasn’t looked good with the franchise, so he’s bound to leave in free agency.
This leaves Jaxson Hayes, who could play his way into a contract extension this season as he’s now the team’s de facto center and is an athletic lob catcher who could shine alongside Doncic and LeBron.
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