The Houston Rockets have emerged as a viable free agent landing spot for Dorian Finney-Smith, league sources tell @TheSteinLine and me, after the veteran declined his $15.4 million player option for 2025-26 with the Lakers today. More NBA from us: https://t.co/uH1l3UTHHR— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) June 29, 2025

Ah, the unknown wrinkle. Now it comes to be clearer the reasons why sometimes you throw cash at a draft pick and sometimes you don’t.

Give me the full MLE and a BAE.— Yinoma2001 (@Yinoma2001) June 29, 2025

No surprise here. Based on the issue with cash and draft night couple with LeBron opting in it’s a hard path to see him stay.

Really? Is that the takeaway? Because I have a hard time seeing more than 3 or 4 teams with a better shot at winning than we have and, if he was traded to them, would decimate their rosters. This is all just bluster and posturing on Rich Paul’s part and keeping it out there how competitive LeBron wants to be.

Breaking: Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James is opting into his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told ESPN. Paul adds: LeBron "knows the Lakers are building for the future … but he values a realistic chance of winning it all." pic.twitter.com/q5mT1O2R35— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2025

Rich Paul: "We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what's best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career." https://t.co/cysMmAAhTv— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2025

LeBron’s wife wants him to retire soon.(@ShamsCharania)“James went out to dinner in New York City this past week with his wife, Savannah; Miami Heat big man Kevin Love and his wife, Kate; and other confidants, and one of the dinner guests posted a snippet of the night to… pic.twitter.com/wuuvjj04GC— 🎗NBA•Fan🎗 (@Klutch_23) June 29, 2025

It's hard not to read this as "the Lakers are prioritizing 2026 cap space and we aren't expecting them to invest major assets into winning the championship this season." https://t.co/SmdE17n7sS— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) June 29, 2025

If this is truly LeBron’s final year, it has been an incredible ride.Thank you for everything @KingJames ❤️ pic.twitter.com/oBvxKWukAe— 🎗NBA•Fan🎗 (@Klutch_23) June 29, 2025

LeBron doesn’t trust Rob Pelinka 👀 pic.twitter.com/3kYEJXo5Kk— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) June 29, 2025

My interpretation is that LeBron got his money & wants the Lakers to improve via trades. If that doesn’t happen, the word “trade” might come up. I don’t see retirement this year. 2 more seasons.— GoldenKnight (@GoldenKnightGFX) June 29, 2025

Smart move for a low cost/high impact player.

If Brook or Capela is our stop gap center until we trade for a better starting center, you must upgrade at SF to add more athleticism and a POA focused defender.— Yinoma2001 (@Yinoma2001) June 29, 2025

Thanks. Not a genius, I just have way too much time on my hands. Lol.

Here are the moves that a team whose salary is above the first tax apron – but below the second apron – is prohibited from making in 2024/25 and beyond:

Acquiring a player via sign-and-trade.
Using any portion of the bi-annual exception for any transaction.
Using any portion of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to acquire a player via trade or waiver claim.
Using more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception to sign a player.
Signing a player who was waived during the current season if his pre-waiver salary for that season exceeded the amount of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Using one or more outgoing players in a trade for matching purposes to take back more than 100% of the outgoing salary.
Using a traded player exception generated during the prior year (ie. between the end of the previous regular season and the end of the most recent regular season).
It’s worth clarifying a few points related to these restrictions.

A team operating above the first apron doesn’t have access to the bi-annual exception or non-taxpayer mid-level exception, both of which can be used to sign a player or to acquire a player via trade or waiver claim. First-apron teams can use the taxpayer mid-level exception, but it can only be used to sign a player, not to acquire one via trade or waiver claim.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

But rumors swirled this week, linking L.A. to trade talks with the Utah Jazz for center Walker Kessler and the Miami Heat for wing Andrew Wiggins, and representatives for both Reaves and Vincent were not contacted about any of the teams involved, sources told ESPN, which is customary when a trade nears the finish line.

Kessler was one of the centers L.A. inquired about last season before the Williams trade, sources told ESPN, but Utah’s asking price — multiple first-round picks — was too steep. The 23-year-old 7-footer averaged 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds (including a league-leading 4.6 offensive rebounds) and 2.4 blocks in his third season with the Jazz.

The Lakers called the Atlanta Hawks about their 6-10, athletic big man Onyeka Okongwu last season, sources told ESPN. Other centers under contract that the Lakers have mulled internally since last season include Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton and Portland’s Robert Williams III, sources told ESPN. Among the other free agent big men L.A. could target are veterans Clint Capela, Al Horford and Brook Lopez.

Ty Jerome is basically there for the taking for ATL. Pitch for him IMO is ATL was 17th percentile in TOs with Trae off the floor. Jerome takes care of the ball, shoots, and isn’t a sieve on D. Prefer NAW as a player and value but Jerome provides value in key areas for ATL.— AKelly (@andlankell) June 28, 2025

the cavs may want to unload jarrett allen to get under the second apronif its too expensive because of his contract length in a 2 team deal lakers should offer their expirings to the third team to land him in LAcavs send assets to third team, lakers land allen— Vinay K. (@vkillem) June 28, 2025

Lakers' Exceptions for free agency:———-DFS Opts-in: TPMLE- $5,685,000BAE- $5,135,000—–DFS Opts-out:NTPMLE- $14,105,000BAE- $5,135,000 #LakeShow— 𝕃𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝔸𝕟𝕕𝕪 🏀🏆x17 (@AChad92) June 28, 2025