The Los Angeles Lakers have been among the top teams in the Western Conference this season, but making further improvements ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline reportedly may not be in the cards.
According to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst, the Lakers have hard-capped themselves below the NBA salary cap’s first apron, meaning they only have about $1 million of space currently.
The Lakers also have little left in the way of draft capital, so they don’t have the assets or cap flexibility to beef up their roster in any significant way.
An anonymous Western Conference executive further broke down the Lakers’ situation, telling Bontemps and Windhorst, “They just need to fast-forward to the offseason. They can’t realistically add to the roster. They don’t have a solve. They’re focused on keeping cap space and trying to do moves on the margins, and it’s hard to find a lot that makes sense.”
The Lakers’ big move for the 2025-26 campaign was actually made last season when they shocked the basketball world by acquiring Luka Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick.
On top of that, general manager Rob Pelinka was hard at work during the offseason, retaining LeBron James and signing both Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia.
Although Austin Reaves is currently out with a calf injury, the Lakers have three players averaging at least 21 points per game in Dončić, James and Reaves.
They are surrounded by a supporting cast of Ayton, LaRavia, Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart and others, and it can be argued that the Lakers would benefit from improving their depth.
However, if they remain committed to staying under the first apron, then adding pieces will be easier said than done.
As they are currently constructed, the Lakers are the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference at 23-12, and they are only one game out of the No. 3 seed and two games out of No. 2.
The current roster is undoubtedly good enough to reach the playoffs and potentially even win a round or two, but it is fair to wonder if they are capable of getting past a team like the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder when push comes to shove.