Lakers Rumors

Pre-Camp Roster Snapshot: Pacific Division

Hoops Rumors is in the process of taking a closer look at each NBA team’s current roster situation, evaluating which clubs still have some moves to make and which ones seem most prepared for training camp to begin.

This series is meant to provide a snapshot of each team’s roster at this time, so these articles won’t be updated in the coming weeks as more signings, trades, and cuts are made. You can follow our roster counts page to keep tabs on teams’ open spots as opening night nears.

We’re continuing our pre-camp Roster Snapshot series today with the Pacific Division. Let’s dive in…


Golden State Warriors

Andre Iguodala‘s decision on whether to play for another season or retire looks like the only major domino left to fall for the Warriors this offseason. If Iguodala returns, he’ll fill Golden State’s 14th roster spot. If not, the team might be in the market for another veteran free agent addition.

Even if Iguodala re-signs, there would be one open spot on the Warriors’ 15-man roster. The club could keep that spot open to start the season in order to maintain flexibility and to avoid pushing its astronomical tax bill even higher, but if there’s a player who shows he deserves a place on the roster – like Gary Payton II did a year ago – Golden State would likely be willing to sacrifice that flexibility and to pay the associated costs to keep him.

Los Angeles Clippers

Like the Warriors, the Clippers are far beyond the luxury tax line and may not feel compelled to fill their 15th roster spot at the start of the season. But Los Angeles does still have a two-way slot available. Brown, Moon, and other training camp invitees could find themselves in vying for that second two-way contract.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers’ roster remains very much in flux, with Westbrook a prime candidate to be traded before opening night. Most permutations of a Westbrook deal would require L.A. to take back two or three players, and the team currently has the roster flexibility to do so.

If the Lakers can’t find a trade they like involving Westbrook, they could sign another free agent or two to fill out their 15-man regular season roster.

Phoenix Suns

One of several taxpaying teams in the division, the Suns are another candidate to open the season with 14 players on standard contracts instead of 15. For now, Landale holds the 14th roster spot, but his partial guarantee is only worth about $46K, so he probably doesn’t have a firm grip on that spot. The Suns reportedly remain in the market for another frontcourt piece and if they find one they like, it’s unclear whether Landale will stick with the team.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings appear set to hold a training camp competition for the three open spots on their projected regular season roster, with Dellavedova, Merrill, Moneke, Bazemore, Cook, and Okpala all potentially in the mix. While there’s only room for three of them for now, Sacramento could keep a fourth by trading or releasing one of their 12 players with guaranteed salaries.

Lakers Rumors: THT, Westbrook, Reaves, Nunn, Carmelo

Before the Lakers traded Talen Horton-Tucker to the Jazz in the Patrick Beverley deal, the Pacers expressed interest in the 21-year-old wing, Michael Scotto said in the latest episode of the HoopsHype podcast.

As Scotto explains, the Pacers were interested in pursuing a deal that sent Buddy Hield, Myles Turner, and Daniel Theis to the Lakers in exchange for Russell Westbrook, Horton-Tucker, and Los Angeles’ 2027 and 2029 first-round picks. However, L.A. has been reluctant to include both of those first-rounders in any deal not involving Kyrie Irving, and wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about swapping Horton-Tucker for Theis.

Although Horton-Tucker is off the table, Indiana remains one of the two most likely landing spots for Westbrook, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, who says a deal involving the Pacers and Westbrook could involve just one of Hield or Turner — the Pacers still have $30MM+ in cap room and could take on Westbrook’s $47MM+ expiring contract without sending out both players. Still, Buha believes that Utah is a more viable destination for Westbrook than Indiana.

Here’s more on the Lakers from the HoopsHype podcast:

  • Scotto has gotten the impression that Austin Reaves and the Lakers have mutual interest in continuing their relationship beyond the 2022/23 season. Reaves will be a restricted free agent next summer and will be seeking a pay bump on his minimum-salary contract.
  • While Kendrick Nunn has been around the Lakers’ facility and has been working out, his ramp-up process has been slowed than anticipated, according to Buha. Nunn said a month ago that he feels 100% healthy, but the acquisition of Beverley gives the team some extra insurance at point guard.
  • A reunion between Carmelo Anthony and the Lakers remains possible, in Buha’s view, but he believes the veteran forward is more likely to land elsewhere. L.A. still needs more shooting, which Anthony could provide, but also wants to continue to upgrade its perimeter defense, which isn’t one of Carmelo’s strengths.

RJ Barrett Hasn’t Been “Ruled Out” Of Donovan Mitchell Trade

Despite an agreement on a lucrative extension and significant complications from the “poison pill provision,” sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (video link via The Rally) that Knicks wing RJ Barrett could still be offered in a trade for Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell.

It’s not expected that he is going to be ruled out of any potential trade, and I’m told through various sources that RJ Barrett could very well end up being in a potential deal and being in offers depending on the framework of a deal,” Charania said.

According to Charania, New York’s latest offer for Mitchell included Barrett and two unprotected first-round picks, but the Jazz wanted more in return for the three-time All-Star, so the Knicks wound up giving Barrett an extension.

As we outline in our glossary entry, a player who signs a rookie scale extension but remains on his rookie contract has different outgoing and incoming salary-matching figures, which is referred to as a “poison pill” — in Barrett’s case, the gap between his outgoing and incoming figures will reportedly exceed $15MM. That would make it extremely challenging for both the Knicks and Jazz to send out and take back a legal amount of salary if Barrett is part of a package for Mitchell.

As Charania notes, the Knicks still have other assets to include in a deal that doesn’t involve Barrett, with the Jazz reportedly prioritizing landing as many unprotected first-rounders as possible. New York remains “hopeful” that it can still land Mitchell without including Barrett, and wouldn’t have extended him if the team thought it would nix a potential deal, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post.

According to Berman, the Lakers are “open to discussions” about a potential three-team trade, and still have interest in Knicks wing Cam Reddish, who received scant playing time after being acquired from Atlanta in January. Charania previously reported that the Lakers are also interested in Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic.

Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News reports (Twitter links) that Barrett’s extension is a straight four-year deal with no options and includes $107MM in guaranteed money. Barrett could earn as much as $120MM from incentives, but he’ll still be making an average of $26.75MM per season from 2023-27.

Jeanie Buss Discusses LeBron’s Extension, Westbrook, More

Lakers owner Jeanie Buss discussed a variety of topics with Sam Amick of The Athletic, including LeBron James signing an extension with the team, how important Russell Westbrook was last season and more. James agreed to extend his deal earlier this month, while Westbrook has been at the center of trade speculation this summer.

“I’ll stay cautiously optimistic, but it is a big vote of confidence when LeBron James signs a two-year extension, when he had many months to do so,” Buss said as part of a much larger quote. “And you know, it was a priority to us. It’s a priority to the Laker brand that he retire a Laker. We’ll probably enjoy watching him as he approaches becoming the all-time leading scorer in history.”

As Amick notes, James had until June 30, 2023 to extend his deal. He’s now under contract through the 2023/24 season and owns a $50.4MM player option for the 2024/25 campaign. He’s coming off an excellent year, averaging 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game on 52% shooting.

Buss curiously tabbed Westbrook as the team’s best player last season, later clarifying she should’ve used the word “consistent” instead of “best.” Westbrook played in 78 games — the most of anyone on the team — but his production certainly wasn’t where James’ was.

“All I can say is that, from my point of view, (Westbrook) was our best player last year,” Buss said. “He played pretty much every single game, showed up, worked hard. You know, I would have loved to have seen what this team would have looked like if they stayed healthy.

“It’s really tough to win when Anthony Davis isn’t on the court. LeBron was hurt a lot of the season. But Russ showed up every game and played hard every night. And, you know, I just really appreciate him for who he is and what he brings to the team.”

When it comes to health, Buss has a great point. Westbrook, James and Davis only played in 21 games together last season. The games were also scattered throughout the campaign. Chemistry still matters when forming a big three. In 2010/11, James was part of a core that featured Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. The team started 9-8, then wound up going 49-16 after that as a result.

While the Lakers certainly had issues related to their supporting cast, defense and three-point shooting (the team shot 34.7%, ranked 22nd in the league), it’s clear that health issues were a major factor in the club’s failure to reach its full potential. In the end, Los Angeles finished with a 33-49 record and missed the playoffs.

“Last season was a huge disappointment,” Buss said as part of her assessment. “I think if you look back, exactly a year ago there was a lot of media who predicted us to be at the top. We certainly didn’t live up to that expectation, and it was hugely disappointing because you can’t possibly contend for a championship if you’re not even in the playoffs.

“So we made some changes. And, you know, I think changes needed to be made. … We have a new coach, and I’m excited to see what he brings and I want to give him all the time and resources that he needs to build a successful program.”

Donovan Mitchell Trade To Knicks Remains Possible

RJ Barrett‘s extension with the Knicks complicates a potential trade for Donovan Mitchell, but it doesn’t close the door entirely, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post.

Sources tell Berman that the Jazz are most interested in stockpiling unprotected first-round picks in return for Mitchell. Berman has reported that Utah wants four unprotected picks in the trade, while New York is only willing to part with two, along with three conditional selections.

A league source indicates that the market for Mitchell remains limited, telling Berman, “There’s no place for Donovan to go right now. The Knicks can still get him.”

Berman also hears that the Jazz would like to expand the trade to include the Lakers and hopefully pick up L.A.’s 2027 and 2029 first-rounders. Berman notes that the Lakers likely have interest in Cam Reddish, whom they pursued at the trade deadline and who saw limited playing time after coming to New York. Reddish is a client of Rich Paul at Klutch Sports, Berman points out, which means LeBron James and Anthony Davis would probably support bringing him to L.A.

There’s more on a potential Mitchell trade to New York:

  • If Barrett’s new contract takes him out of the equation, Utah could become more focused on landing Quentin Grimes, Berman adds in the same piece. The 22-year-old shooting guard established himself as a fixture in coach Tom Thibodeau’s rotation last season, but Berman notes that there would be little chance for him to become a starter in New York with Mitchell and Jalen Brunson on hand.
  • The Jazz were aware that the Knicks set a Monday night deadline for a Barrett extension, but they didn’t let it impact negotiations, according to Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. She has heard conflicting reports about whether Utah wants Barrett or would be content with a deal that doesn’t include him. Sources tell Todd that both teams are playing hardball right now in trade talks, but there’s still a chance to complete a deal before training camp.
  • The “poison pill provision” means a third team would have to be included to get Barrett to Utah, ESPN’s Bobby Marks says in a video breakdown of Barrett’s extension. He says a team with cap room, such as the Pacers or Spurs, would have to be willing to take Evan Fournier‘s contract, which is worth nearly $56MM over the next three years.

TPE From Grizzlies Set To Expire

  • The Lakers are about to let a traded player exception lapse. Their TPE of $2,692,991 generated in a deal with the Grizzlies will expire if they don’t make use of it on Monday. In that swap, the Lakers sent Marc Gasol, a 2024 second-round pick, and cash to Memphis in exchange for the draft rights to 2016 second-rounder Wang Zhelin. Memphis soon waived Gasol, who returned to Europe.

Lakers Notes: Westbrook, THT, Beverley, Schröder

It remains very possible that the Lakers move Russell Westbrook in a trade before the 2022/23 season begins, but if Rob Pelinka and his front office can’t find a deal they like, new head coach Darvin Ham is determined to “carve out a real role” for Westbrook, Marc Stein writes at Substack.

Sources tell Stein that the Lakers have thus far resisted the idea of taking the John Wall route with Westbrook and having him sit at home while he remains under contract with the team. The Rockets took that approach with Wall last season and spent the season exploring the trade market before eventually reaching a buyout agreement with the veteran point guard this summer, when he had one year left on his contract. Westbrook is entering the final year of his own deal.

As Stein observes, there were indications on social media last week that the Lakers are prepared to incorporate Westbrook if he’s not traded in the coming weeks. LeBron James tweeted that he expects his teammate to “go off” this season, and the Lakers’ official Twitter account included Westbrook in a series of videos and photos of players’ offseason workouts.

Here’s more from Stein on the Lakers:

  • League sources tell Stein that the Lakers initially resisted the idea of trading Talen Horton-Tucker for Patrick Beverley when they started to discuss a potential deal with the Jazz in July, since L.A. wants to get younger and more athletic this season. However, after LeBron signed an extension, the club seemed more willing to shift into win-now mode, Stein writes, which made Beverley a better fit than Horton-Tucker.
  • Stein, who first reported last Tuesday that the Lakers were giving “legit consideration” to the idea of signing Dennis Schröder, says it’s unclear whether the acquisition of Beverley eliminates Schröder as a possibility. The team has a good deal of depth at point guard for the time being, with Westbrook, Beverley, and Kendrick Nunn all in the mix, but if Westbrook is traded, that might re-open the door for Schröder.
  • In case you missed it, we outlined on Friday why it will be challenging for the Lakers to include meaningful protections on their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks if they trade them.

Pacific Notes: Ham, LeBron, Westbrook, Murray, Hightower, Warriors

Lakers coach Darvin Ham recently expressed excitement about LeBron James inking an extension with the team, as relayed by Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints. James agreed to extend his deal through the 2023/24 season, also owning a $50.4MM player option for the 2024/25 campaign.

“It’s huge, man,” Ham acknowledged. “It’s huge. LeBron is a once-in-a-lifetime player. You only get so many players. Not even so many. You have Bill Russell, you have Wilt Chamberlain, you have Dr. J, you have Moses Malone, you had Larry Bird, Magic [Johnson], you had [Michael] Jordan, you had Allen Iverson, Shaq [O’Neal], Kobe [Bryant], and now it’s LeBron’s time.”

James led the Lakers to a championship in 2020 and is focused on doing it again this season. The team lacks the wing defenders it had that year (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green and Alex Caruso, among others), but it still has a talented roster on paper — one also headlined by Anthony Davis.

Here are some other notes from the Pacific:

Stein’s Latest: Morris, Hornets, Mitchell, Lakers

Veteran free agent power forward Markieff Morris is under consideration as a reserve acquisition for the Sixers in addition to the Nets, writes Marc Stein in a new article for Substack.

Stein notes that the 32-year-old was known to be a vocal locker room presence while on a star-studded 2019/20 championship-winning Lakers club, and could be a good fit for a Brooklyn team fielding several at-times angsty superstars.

Morris missed most of his 2021/22 season with the Heat due to a major neck injury after entering the season as a key reserve. In his 17 available regular season games with Miami, Morris averaged 7.6 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 1.4 APG. The 6’9″ big man out of Kansas posted a shooting line of .474/.333/.889.

Here’s more from Stein:

  • As the Hornets consider reserve point guard options behind developing All-Star LaMelo Ball, the team has broadened its list of potential targets to include former Suns point guard Elfrid Payton, according to Stein. Isaiah Thomas, who fulfilled the role adequately last season, is still being looked at, as is Pistons point guard Kemba Walker, a three-time All-Star while with Charlotte whom Stein expects to be bought out of his current deal.
  • The Lakers‘ 2027 and 2029 first-round draft selections, along with the expiring contract of incumbent point guard Russell Westbrook, could be used to help complete a three-team Donovan Mitchell trade for the Jazz, either with the Knicks or even another suitor. Stein writes that the draft picks could hold significant appeal for Jazz team president Danny Ainge, who earlier this summer received quite a bounty in future draft equity as part of his blockbuster deal that shipped former Utah All-Star Rudy Gobert out to the Timberwolves.
  • Stein cautions that the Lakers, who leveraged a lot of future draft picks in their trade for Anthony Davis, remain fairly protective of the 2027 and 2029 picks. Given that L.A. is fielding a team with (currently) three maximum-salaried veterans all with at least 10 years of experience, one would expect the club to very much be in win-now mode, but the team only wants to make a move if it values the returning players as being worth the sacrifice. Stein defines that as players who can help the team return to its standing as a championship contender, following a disappointing 33-49 season that saw the Lakers on the outside of the play-in tournament looking in.

The Complications Of Protecting Far-Off Traded Picks

Much has been made this offseason of the Lakers‘ ability to trade only their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks. That limitation is the result of two NBA restrictions related to draft-pick trades — the “Stepien” rule and the “seven-year” rule.

As we explain in our glossary entry, the Stepien rule prevents teams from leaving themselves without a first-round pick in two consecutive future drafts, while the seven-year rule prohibits teams from trading draft picks more than seven years in the future.

The Lakers traded their 2024 first-round pick to the Pelicans in the Anthony Davis blockbuster and gave New Orleans the option to defer that pick to 2025. Because New Orleans may receive that pick in ’24, the Stepien rule prohibits the Lakers from leaving themselves without a first-rounder in 2023. And because New Orleans may defer the pick to ’25, L.A. also can’t trade its ’26 first-rounder.

That leaves the Lakers’ 2027, 2028, and 2029 first-round picks as tradable — their picks in 2030 and beyond are currently off-limits because they’re eight or more drafts away. But moving the 2028 pick would render the ’27 and ’29 first-rounders unmovable due to the Stepien rule, which is why we haven’t heard that ’28 selection mentioned in any rumors this summer.

As the Lakers mull the possibility of attaching their 2027 first-round pick and/or their 2029 selection to Russell Westbrook‘s contract in order to acquire multiple rotation players, the potential protection on those first-rounders will be a major consideration.

NBA clubs are generally hesitant to move unprotected first-round picks, especially when they’re so far down the road — after all, it’s entirely possible that neither LeBron James nor Davis will be a Laker by 2027. Los Angeles will want to give itself some protection – even if it’s light protection – in the event that the club bottoms out and that ’27 pick ends up at No. 1.

However, pick protections become complicated when discussing draft assets that are five, six, or seven years down the road due to the seven-year rule. Not only can a team not trade a 2030 pick right now, but it also can’t push the protections on a pick beyond 2029.

As a reference point, let’s consider the first-round pick that the Pistons sent the Rockets in the Isaiah Stewart/Trevor Ariza/Christian Wood trade during the 2020 offseason. At the time of that deal, the protections on the Pistons’ traded first-rounder were as follows:

  • 2021: Top-16 protected
  • 2022: Top-16 protected
  • 2023: Top-18 protected
  • 2024: Top-18 protected
  • 2025: Top-13 protected
  • 2026: Top-11 protected
  • 2027: Top-9 protected

The Pistons pushed the seven-year rule to the limit with that traded first-rounder, applying protections to all seven years in which the pick might change hands.

The selection, which has since been rerouted from Houston to Oklahoma City to New York, has yet to convey, but there’s a very good chance it will do so eventually, unless the Pistons’ rebuild really crashes and burns. If the first-rounder remains protected through 2027, the Knicks would instead receive the Pistons’ 2027 second-round pick, since Detroit wasn’t able to push the protections into 2028 due to the seven-year rule.

With that in mind, it’s worth considering what the Lakers can realistically do with protections on their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks.

Let’s suppose they want to put top-10 protection on their 2027 first-rounder, then push that first-rounder to 2028 if it lands in the top 10 in ’27. Due to the Stepien rule, taking that approach would jeopardize their ability to trade their 2029 pick, since they wouldn’t be able to trade both their 2028 and 2029 first-rounders.

To work around that issue, the Lakers might suggest leaving those top-10 protections on the 2027 pick and sending their trade partner second-round picks in 2027 and 2028 if the first-rounder lands in its protected range. That would leave the 2028 first-round pick untouched and would preserve L.A.’s ability to trade its 2029 first-rounder.

However, the Lakers’ trade partner would likely be reluctant to sign off on those terms, since that team would only have one shot at the 2027 first-round pick before it turns into a pair of far less valuable second-rounders. Any team discussing a deal with the Lakers would presumably push for that 2027 pick to be unprotected or extremely lightly protected in order to avoid that risk.

So let’s say the Lakers agree to make the 2027 pick unprotected. Could they then add protections to the 2029 pick instead? Well, due to the seven-year rule, there are even fewer options in establishing a backup plan for a protected 2029 first-rounder, since the Lakers wouldn’t have the ability to push that pick to 2030.

Realistically, if the Lakers wanted to add protections to their 2029 first-round pick, they could only agree to send their 2029 second-round pick in its place if the first-rounder landed in its protected range. That’s an even greater risk for a potential trade partner.

The ability to protect traded draft picks gives teams the ability to drastically influence the value of those traded picks. For example, if a lottery-bound team agrees to trade its 2023 first-round pick, but insists on adding top-20 protection and sending a 2026 second-round pick in its place if the first-rounder lands in its protected range, that’s not a very valuable trade asset. On the other hand, if that lottery team agrees to reduce the protections on that traded 2023 first-round pick for each year it doesn’t convey and eventually makes it unprotected, it suddenly becomes far more valuable as a trade chip.

Because the Lakers aren’t really able to take the latter approach with their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks at this point, it will be extremely difficult for them to add meaningful protections to those picks without significantly decreasing their value.