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EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 12: (L-R) President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka and head coach JJ Redick of the Los Angeles Lakers speak to the media during a press conference at UCLA Health Training Center on May 12, 2026 in El Segundo, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Luke Hales\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> reportedly don\u2019t wish to use their 15th and final roster spot on an ancillary piece, but instead on a difference-making player.<\/p>\n Per ESPN\u2019s Dave McMenamin<\/a>, the Lakers view the final roster spot as \u201ca very important\u201d piece of the puzzle and want to be diligent about their decision-making.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s one empty roster spot remaining. Sometimes a team with 14 guys would prefer to keep the spot open to make a move at the trade deadline or have some optionality. That\u2019s not the case for the Lakers.\u00a0They view this final spot as a very important piece to their potential puzzle,\u201d McMenamin told \u201cNBA<\/a> Today\u201d on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026They\u2019re trying to pitch opportunity. \u2018You will come here, you\u2019ll play on the biggest stage in basketball and you may have to take a pay cut for a year or two but you can get back into the big dollars.’\u201d<\/p>\n Lakers Roster Nearly Finalized<\/p>\n The Lakers used their penultimate roster spot on veteran big man Kevon Looney, bringing their overall roster count to 14 players, as seen below.<\/p>\n Luka Doncic The Lakers are reportedly trying to trade Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht with hopes of landing Jonathan Kuminga or another difference-making player. Although Vando continues to be a suspect shooter, his defensive versatility could be coveted by teams looking to make defensive upgrades. He has a player option worth $13.2M for the 2027-28 season, but is on a cap-friendly $12.4M salary this coming season.<\/p>\n Lakers Eyeing Jonathan Kuminga<\/p>\n McMenamin added that the Lakers remain intrigued by the idea of adding Kuminga, who is reportedly eyeing a deal in the $15-$18M per season range.<\/p>\n \u201cThey would have to do some maneuvering like attaching Vanderbilt and Knecht with the two second-round picks they got from the Wizards<\/a>,\u201d the Lakers insider said. \u201cThat\u2019s the only way they can free up some cap space to pursue Kuminga.\u201d<\/p>\n California Post\u2019s Khobi Price<\/a> provided insight on the Lakers putting Vanderbilt on the trade block, and the Atlanta Hawks\u2019 asking price in a Kuming sign-and-trade.<\/p>\n \u201cA source told the Post the Hawks are willing to execute a sign-and-trade with the Lakers around the framework of Kuminga going to L.A. and the Hawks receiving Jarred Vanderbilt and the Lakers\u2019 2032 first-round pick swap \u2013 the lone option the Lakers have of trading a first-round pick this summer,\u201d Price reported on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cLos Angeles also has three second-round picks (Wizards two picks and its own 2033 pick) available to trade.<\/p>\n \u201cKuminga\u2019s contract would have to be for at least three or four seasons (not including option seasons), and the first season must be fully guaranteed, if the Lakers acquired him in a sign and trade.\u201d<\/p>\n Kuminga is definitely the sort of difference-making player the Lakers could use with their 15th roster spot. The former NBA champion will bring athleticism and defensive versatility, not to mention the ability to attack the rim and free up Doncic and Reaves.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSai Mohan<\/a> covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sportswriter with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit and more. More about Sai Mohan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 12: (L-R) President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-789058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789058","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=789058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAustin Reaves
\nAdou Thiero
\nBronny James
\nJarred Vanderbilt
\nCameron Carr
\nWalker Kessler
\nQuentin Grimes
\nJaden Hardy
\nDalton Knecht
\nKevon Looney
\nJake LaRavia
\nSandro Mamukelashvili
\nCollin Sexton<\/p>\n