{"id":355960,"date":"2025-12-18T11:37:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T11:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/355960\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T11:37:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T11:37:07","slug":"nba-insider-proposes-smart-plan-for-the-lakers-to-acquire-two-excellent-players-in-2026-fa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/355960\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Insider Proposes Smart Plan For The Lakers To Acquire Two Excellent Players In 2026 FA"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> made some impressive moves this offseason by signing solid rotation pieces, including Deandre Ayton<\/a>, Marcus Smart<\/a>, and Jake LaRavia<\/a>. The result of these additions has been resoundingly positive, with the Purple and Gold boasting an 18-7 record. Given their cap situation for 2026, however, the franchise could be primed to make a bigger splash in free agency.<\/p>\n

On this note, NBA insider Sam Quinn<\/a> presented a smart plan that would allow the Lakers to pursue two key rotation pieces, while potentially adding another backup center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Lakers took their cap space into free agency and used it to scoop up Quentin Grimes, Keon Ellis, keep Ayton, and get a higher-end backup center without touching their picks so they can trade them later, that sounds pretty appealing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Signing Quentin Grimes<\/a> and Keon Ellis next summer could be an interesting prospect for the Purple and Gold. Los Angeles has been linked with both players this year. While Ellis has garnered more trade interest from the Lakers<\/a>, Grimes could be a meaningful addition, too.<\/p>\n

Both Grimes and Ellis are expected to be unrestricted free agents next summer. Grimes picked up his qualifying offer with the 76ers<\/a> this offseason after failing to land a multi-year deal with the team.<\/p>\n

Considering that he intended to sign a contract that would see him earning $30 million annually<\/a>, acquiring Grimes may be expensive. But given this season\u2019s averages of 16.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game, the Lakers may have an opportunity to sign him for as low as $20 million annually.<\/p>\n

Ellis, on the other hand, may be easier to sign. Since losing his place in the Kings<\/a>\u2018 main rotation, the guard has faced a dip in production this season, averaging 5.3 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game. This is promising for the Lakers, as it could allow them to sign him to a team-friendly contract, potentially a two-year, $20 million deal.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Lakers\u2019 Salary Cap Situation For 2026<\/p>\n

The 2026 free agency period is expected to be an intriguing one for the Los Angeles Lakers. Although the team currently has a significant amount of money tied up in salaries, given the number of expiring contracts on their payroll, the Purple and Gold are expected to free up a considerable amount of cap space<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Currently, the Lakers are projected to have an active roster valued at $105.27 million for the 2026-27 season. This includes players such as Luka Doncic<\/a>, Jarred Vanderbilt<\/a>, Dalton Knecht<\/a>, Bronny James<\/a>, Adou Thiero<\/a>, Jake LaRavia, and even players like Austin Reaves<\/a>, Ayton, and Smart, who have player options.<\/p>\n

With LeBron James<\/a>, Rui Hachimura<\/a>, Gabe Vincent<\/a>, Maxi Kleber<\/a>, and Jaxson Hayes<\/a> potentially on the way out, the Lakers could have upwards of $95 million at their disposal.<\/p>\n

While this is a sizable amount, when considering the reports involving Austin Reaves\u2019 decision to decline his player option in a pursuit of a larger contract extension, potentially in the $30-35 million range<\/a>, this figure could dwindle.<\/p>\n

In an optimistic scenario, Ayton and Smart would pick up their player options, effectively giving L.A. approximately $60 million in cap space to sign Grimes, Ellis, and a serviceable backup big man. However, should Ayton opt out of his deal, Quinn outlined the Lakers\u2019 potential approach towards this situation<\/a> by stating:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the probable Ayton solution is gonna be another 1+1 at a modest raise with the idea that the Lakers will take care of him longer term when he has Early Bird Rights in 2027. Luka and Ayton sharing an agent is helpful in this respect. There should be long-term alignment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think Ayton winds up at $25 million+, at least not on a multi-year deal,\u201d Quinn added<\/a>. \u201cThat market likely won\u2019t be there for him. One year doesn\u2019t erase the Portland\/Phoenix baggage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, the Lakers could find themselves in a fairly promising position heading into the 2026 free agency period, especially if LeBron James opts to retire at the end of the season. With ample cap flexibility in hand, the Purple and Gold could focus on making serious roster upgrades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Lakers made some impressive moves this offseason by signing solid rotation pieces, including Deandre Ayton,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-355960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}