NBA exec: Lakers 'have to make a painful decision or two' this summer

[ASFN Admin]

Even though the Los Angeles Lakers are projected to have roughly $50 million of salary cap space this summer, it will not be easy for them to improve their roster. Not only will they want to keep LeBron James, but they also have other players about to hit the market they will likely want to re-sign. On top of that, the Lakers will want to secure at least one upgrade via free agency or the trade market.

In addition to James, Rui Hachimura, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes will be free agents at the end of this month, while Austin Reaves, Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton can decline their player options for next season to become free agents. It is a virtual certainty that Reaves will opt out, and he could reportedly command $40 million on his next contract.

It seems reasonable not to expect the team to make major changes this summer, especially when one considers that, according to Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports, it likes many of the players currently on its roster (h/t Lakers Daily).

“That means that the Lakers will have some choices to make,” Deveney wrote. “Increasingly, word is that the Lakers like a lot of the players they have on hand, and rather than making sweeping changes to the roster, could instead bring back a lot of last season’s players with just one midrange addition worth in the $20 million AAV range, likely for a big man.

“Making choices on getting rid of players who helped on the floor and in the locker room–Smart and Hachimura, perhaps–won’t be easy.”

One NBA executive said that as a result, the Lakers will have at least one difficult decision to make.

“They have cap space and that’s a great position to be in,” one Western Conference executive said. “But they really like their group. They’re going to have to make a painful decision or two with that roster.”

Los Angeles finished with a 53-29 record and claimed the fourth seed in the Western Conference despite significant injuries to James, Reaves and Luka Doncic. It won 16 of 18 games in late February and March when it remained healthy for an extended stretch, but Doncic and Reaves suffered injuries on April 2 versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, and everything went south at that point.

From the Lakers' perspective, they could feel that those injuries ruined their chances to expand on that late-season run and do some real damage in the playoffs. But just about everyone agrees the team lacks depth, athleticism, perimeter defense, 3-point shooting and a solid center rotation. L.A. will have to find a difficult balance between keeping enough of its core and having enough salary-cap flexibility to improve its personnel and take the next step toward becoming a championship contender.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: NBA exec: Lakers 'have to make a painful decision or two' this summer

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