FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Other than acquiring Luke Kennard, the Los Angeles Lakers largely stood pat the trade deadline despite having clear needs on the roster.

The Lakers, as currently constructed, are a poor defensive team that struggles against younger, more athletic teams. Although Luka Doncic is having a career year and LeBron James and Austin Reaves are turning in All-Star-caliber seasons, Los Angeles is still a step behind the other contending teams around the NBA.

The lack of activity at the trade deadline supports the reporting that the Lakers will look to make their splash in the summer when they’re armed with more tradable draft capital and cap space.

In terms of free agency, there are several 3-and-D wings that could be had and a few of them were named as potential targets, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:

An unrestricted free agent who has been discussed internally, sources told ESPN, is Andrew Wiggins, but he has a player option with Miami he could exercise. Tobias Harris, Quentin Grimes and Dean Wade are other players who fit that profile.

The Lakers have also privately discussed restricted free agents Tari Eason and Peyton Watson, sources told ESPN, and could land the latter if Denver, which already has $215 million in salary committed to returning players for next season, doesn’t match the offer sheet.

Some of these are names we’ve seen before. Andrew Wiggins was arguably the most popular name linked to the Lakers this past offseason, and he remains an intriguing option. A perimeter defender who can knock down an open 3-pointer and comes with championship experience would be a valuable addition to Los Angeles.

It’s not a foregone conclusion that Wiggins will even be a free agent this summer, however as he has a $30.2 million player option in 2026-27 that he could very well pick up.

The Lakers may also want to target the younger players available in order to match up better with Doncic’s timeline. With that in mind, Tari Eason and Peyton Watson would be excellent targets because of their skillsets and upside. Watson, in particular, seems attainable given his expected price tag and Southern Californian roots.

Attracting a star player to come to L.A. has always been the playbook for the front office, but with Doncic already locked down they need to surround him with complementary pieces. The modern NBA is built around speed, length and athleticism so the purple and gold should be as aggressive as possible for players with those attributes come the summer.

Lakers believe they would be on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s shortlist of trade destinations.
With more first round picks to trade, Los Angeles can make a run at nearly any player in the league. The big prize of the summer is Giannis Antetokounmpo, who appears ready to be moved and the Lakers believe they would be on his shortlist of trade destinations should he actually ask out.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Other than acquiring Luke Kennard, the Los Angeles Lakers largely stood pat the trade deadline despite having clear needs on the roster.

The Lakers, as currently constructed, are a poor defensive team that struggles against younger, more athletic teams. Although Luka Doncic is having a career year and LeBron James and Austin Reaves are turning in All-Star-caliber seasons, Los Angeles is still a step behind the other contending teams around the NBA.

The lack of activity at the trade deadline supports the reporting that the Lakers will look to make their splash in the summer when they’re armed with more tradable draft capital and cap space.

In terms of free agency, there are several 3-and-D wings that could be had and a few of them were named as potential targets, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:

An unrestricted free agent who has been discussed internally, sources told ESPN, is Andrew Wiggins, but he has a player option with Miami he could exercise. Tobias Harris, Quentin Grimes and Dean Wade are other players who fit that profile.

The Lakers have also privately discussed restricted free agents Tari Eason and Peyton Watson, sources told ESPN, and could land the latter if Denver, which already has $215 million in salary committed to returning players for next season, doesn’t match the offer sheet.

Some of these are names we’ve seen before. Andrew Wiggins was arguably the most popular name linked to the Lakers this past offseason, and he remains an intriguing option. A perimeter defender who can knock down an open 3-pointer and comes with championship experience would be a valuable addition to Los Angeles.

It’s not a foregone conclusion that Wiggins will even be a free agent this summer, however as he has a $30.2 million player option in 2026-27 that he could very well pick up.

The Lakers may also want to target the younger players available in order to match up better with Doncic’s timeline. With that in mind, Tari Eason and Peyton Watson would be excellent targets because of their skillsets and upside. Watson, in particular, seems attainable given his expected price tag and Southern Californian roots.

Attracting a star player to come to L.A. has always been the playbook for the front office, but with Doncic already locked down they need to surround him with complementary pieces. The modern NBA is built around speed, length and athleticism so the purple and gold should be as aggressive as possible for players with those attributes come the summer.

Lakers believe they would be on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s shortlist of trade destinations
With more first round picks to trade, Los Angeles can make a run at nearly any player in the league. The big prize of the summer is Giannis Antetokounmpo, who appears ready to be moved and the Lakers believe they would be on his shortlist of trade destinations should he actually ask out.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

The NBA keeps selling the future, but the present is a mess

Adam Silver tipped off the latest All-Star Weekend, as he does every All-Star Weekend, with a little techno-wizardry at the NBA’s tech summit, an invite-only gathering of league execs, agents, sponsors, movers, shakers, and varied VIPs. With the assistance of (naturally) an influencer named Jesser, the commissioner rolled out “POV Mode”—an AI-powered feature that would allow fans to view games, in real time, through the point of view of any player on the court.

For a few dazzling moments, everyone in the YouTube Theater auditorium became Dallas rookie Cooper Flagg as he flicked a midrange jumper over Charlotte’s Moussa Diabaté. The massive digital screen showed Flagg’s arms and hands in front of us, as if they were our own. Neat.

Except all the “players” on the screen looked like robots, with gray, faceless orbs for heads, and the arena background was dark, devoid of fans. It looked more like a 20th-century video game than a 21st-century NBA game. But POV Mode was, well … sorta cool? I guess?

Silver seemed to think so. Or at least he did a commendable job of reciting his lines and putting on a gee-whiz smile as he watched his pal Jesser explain it all.

“So this is all what we’re gonna be able to do in real time,” Silver said, feigning childlike wonder as the cartoon robots with real-world player names ambled around a virtual Mavericks home court.

It wasn’t clear when, how, or even if this slick new feature would be available in our living rooms. But then, Silver’s annual tech summit presentations are generally more dreamy than practical.

Last year, it was robots rebounding for Steph Curry. The year before that, it was a face-swap gizmo that put Ahmad Rashad’s head on Victor Wembanyama’s body. The year before that, Rashad was magically transported into a Lakers-Jazz game, where he promptly posterized Damian Jones. Back in 2019, Silver showed off a “smart jersey” that would give fans the power, via an app, to change the name and number on an NBA jersey (presumably so they wouldn’t have to buy a new one every time their favorite player got traded).

Over the past decade, the NBA has loudly touted the metaverse, crypto, NFTs, virtual reality, augmented reality, and just about every other kind of reality. The gizmos and gimmicks rarely make it to the real world, but, well, it’s the aspiration that counts. Yet it always leaves us wondering: Is any of this actually useful? Would it improve the game? The league? Our collective experience? Our enjoyment?

Alas, if only the tech bros could make an app to solve the NBA’s tanking problem. Or player tampering. Or salary cap circumvention. Or soft-tissue injuries that sideline stars for weeks. Or load management. Or the slam dunk contest. Or League Pass glitches. Or the fractured broadcast landscape. (“Hey Siri, what freaking channel is the game on tonight?”) Or the WNBA’s labor standoff. Or, uh, how to prevent NBA players and coaches from getting entangled in the gambling industry.

Because the fact is, the league has never faced a more daunting array of challenges, scandals, and scattered land mines than it does today. And Silver, a veteran of countless crises in his 12 years as commissioner—from Donald Sterling’s racism to the COVID shutdown—is facing more pressure and scrutiny than ever.

All-Star Weekend is supposed to be a celebration, but Silver’s annual press conference on Saturday in Los Angeles practically became an interrogation. The first question was about tanking, a problem Silver conceded is worse than ever, despite various attempts to curb it. Then came a question about the WNBA’s labor woes, which could threaten the 2026 season and destroy all the momentum of the last few years. There was a question about Giannis Antetokounmpo investing in a “prediction market” outfit that, among other things, lets consumers … bet on where Giannis Antetokounmpo will play next. And, of course, there was a question about the Los Angeles Clippers, who played host to the All-Star Game, even as an army of lawyers continues to investigate the club for what, if true, might be the most brazen and egregious cap-circumvention case in NBA history.

There were also the usual questions about expansion (still under consideration) and a planned European league (still in progress), along with a perfunctory question about Phoenix hosting next year’s All-Star Game. But the underlying tenor of the session was: Hey, Adam, how do you plan to fix all of these problems plaguing your league?

Yes, the NBA has endured gambling scandals before (see Donaghy, Tim) and cap scandals before (see Smith, Joe) and labor problems before (see NBA lockouts in 1998 and 2011) and tanking and tampering concerns across the decades. The NBA has seen worse and survived worse. If David Stern were alive today, he’d chuckle condescendingly and remind us once more that in the 1970s and ’80s, the league was considered “too Black,” recreational drug use was ubiquitous, and the Finals were broadcast on tape delay.

So yes, the league has always had its challenges. But never has an NBA commissioner been faced with so many crises, on so many fronts, all at once. Nor so many that cut to the core of the league’s credibility.

The Clippers’ case may sound trivial—what pro sports team doesn’t try to skirt the rules?—but what they’re accused of, secretly funneling tens of millions of dollars to a player and his family members, would thoroughly undermine the salary cap structure and destroy any sense of trust or competitive fairness among the 30 franchises.

The gambling case brought by the federal government last fall needs little elaboration. An active NBA head coach (Chauncey Billups), an active NBA player (Terry Rozier), and a former player and assistant coach (Damon Jones) were arrested following yearslong federal investigations into illegal gambling. According to the indictments, Rozier and Jones allegedly provided insider information to professional gamblers, while Jones and Billups allegedly helped organize rigged poker games, which, while unrelated to the NBA, further compromises their standings.

And then there’s tanking, a scourge the NBA has repeatedly tried (and generally failed) to extinguish over the past four decades. Just last week, Silver hit the Utah Jazz with a $500,000 fine for benching healthy starters in a winnable game and fined the Indiana Pacers $100,000 for holding healthy players out of the lineup. Both teams are heading to the draft lottery and have every incentive to lose games the rest of the way.

That the Jazz engaged in such brazen tanking tactics before the NBA had even reached the All-Star break had to be especially galling to Silver, who just seven years ago touted new lottery reform measures that he hoped would discourage (if not eliminate) such blatant manipulation of the system.

“Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition, and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games,” Silver said in his statement last week. At his press conference, Silver declared the league would consider “every possible remedy … to stop this behavior.”

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted (accurately) in a recent social media post, billionaire owners are hardly moved by fines, even fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. So when Silver says he’s considering everything, that could mean more extreme punishments, such as stripping draft picks from offending teams, or more extreme solutions, such as a thorough overhaul of the draft and lottery. The league can’t afford to do nothing, and league sources insist they are committed to making substantive changes in the coming months.

In his press conference, Silver vowed he would “take a fresh look” at the issue—a phrase he’s invoked often and a defining feature of his leadership. Under Silver’s watch, the NBA has reformed the lottery, added a play-in round to the postseason, launched the NBA Cup, streamlined the schedule, expanded instant replay, and experimented frequently. He’s tweaked the All-Star Game itself multiple times and, based on the rousing praise we heard for Sunday’s new format, might have finally revived it.

At the most basic commercial level, the NBA is undeniably thriving. League revenue could exceed an eye-popping $14 billion this season, just four years after first crossing the $10 billion threshold. The league is a global juggernaut and has the security of a $76 billion media rights deal that runs through 2035-36. But all that wealth can’t insulate the league from scandal, or the slow erosion of its credibility in the public eye.

Silver distinguished himself early in his tenure by decisively banning Sterling after tapes surfaced of the then–Clippers owner making racist remarks. He forged a true partnership with the players association, in contrast to the adversarial relationship that defined the Stern era. He earned praise for his steady stewardship during the 2020 pandemic. Within two years, he could be marking the NBA’s official expansion into Europe, and its first domestic expansion in two decades.

But Silver’s legacy, like that of any sports commissioner, might ultimately be defined by the crises thrust upon him. The league has to solve tanking once and for all. It needs better safeguards to insulate itself from criminal gambling interests. It badly needs new standard-bearers to take the torch from LeBron James and Stephen Curry when they soon retire. And perhaps more than anything else, it needs to figure out how to keep players healthy and on the court, to justify the skyrocketing ticket prices and lavish media rights deals.

It’s a weighty list, to be sure. But hey, we just saw a legitimately competitive and entertaining All-Star Game for the first time in forever, with its highest viewership in 15 years. If the league can solve that debacle, maybe there’s hope for everything else.

Peyton Watson should be the priority https://t.co/AxZhQ2p9ye— KoBron Lakers Fan 🐍🐐 (@LakersLFG) February 17, 2026

The Lakers reportedly want LeBron James to return to the team next season, per @mcten “If James wants to play a 24th season, he would be welcomed back in L.A., sources told ESPN. Pelinka declared before the start of this season that he would love it if James retired a Laker,… pic.twitter.com/9w5ofi3n3A— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 17, 2026

Jeanie Buss “sounded doubtful” regarding LeBron James’s return to LA.(@sherman4949) #LakeShow “James said Sunday he’s still unsure whether he’ll play beyond this season. Buss said she’d leave James’ future with the Lakers to James. Still, she sounded doubtful that he would… pic.twitter.com/crLpRf0zxS— 🎗NBA•Fan🎗 (@Klutch_23) February 17, 2026

The Lakers are all in on Giannis this summer. pic.twitter.com/HhsZonQ3Gd— 🦉 Vino (@VinoUncorked) February 17, 2026

Giannis Antetokounmpo Reignites Lakers Trade Rumors With Recent Comments https://t.co/ELmRddKDOG— LakerTom (@LakerTom) February 16, 2026

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

The Los Angeles Lakers stayed relatively quiet at the trade deadline this year. They made only one trade, swapping Gabe Vincent for Luke Kennard with the Atlanta Hawks, and giving them a 2032 second-round pick in the process. The biggest reason for this inaction is that the Lakers are — fairly openly — prioritizing clean books and cap space in the summer of 2026.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka was hesitant to take on long-term money last offseason, and that didn’t change at the trade deadline. Kennard is on an expiring $11 million contract — similar to Vincent — which allowed Pelinka to agree to the deal without concern.

That leaves the Lakers with a projection of around $48.5 million in cap space for the summer of 2026, which is among the most in the league, according to Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron:

The $48.5 million number, Gozlan lists above, includes Reaves’ $20.9 million cap hold. All signs are pointing to Reaves signing a long-term deal with L.A. this summer at a higher number than that, but that won’t affect their cap space. The Lakers have Reaves’ bird rights, meaning as long as they keep his cap hold on their books, they can sign him to upwards of a max deal while being above the salary cap.

This number also includes player options for Deandre Ayton — $8,104,000 — and Marcus Smart — $5,390,700 — which could both be off the books if they decline and L.A. chooses not to re-sign them. The Lakers would not be able to sign them to deals greater than 120% of their current salaries without using cap space.

Bronny James is on a partially-guaranteed $2,296,271 salary, meaning they could add some space by waiving him before his guarantee date of June 29, and save around $1 million.

Included in this projection are also the guaranteed salaries of Luka Doncic, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia, Adou Thiero and the Lakers’ 2026 first-round draft pick.

Of course, there are always trades the Lakers could make in June that increase this figure. But as things stand, the Lakers will have just under one max salary slot to make moves with this summer.

Top Lakers Free Agent Targets

Below are a list of the best free agents available in the offseason that the Lakers could pursue. LeBron James, an unrestricted free agent this summer, is not included in the list. But bringing him back, likely at a discount, is a possibility. The list is organized in order of the players’ 2025-26 salary.

Guards

Fred VanVleet (PO)
Norman Powell (UFA)
Lu Dort (TO)
Matisse Thybulle (UFA)
Quentin Grimes (UFA)
Ayo Dosunmu (UFA)
Jose Alvarado (UFA)

Forwards

Andrew Wiggins (PO)
Tobias Harris (UFA)
Draymond Green (PO)
Jonathan Kuminga (TO)
John Collins (UFA)
Tari Eason (RFA)
Peyton Watson (RFA)

Centers

Isaiah Hartenstein (TO)
Mitchell Robinson (UFA)
Moe Wagner (UFA)
Day’Ron Sharpe (TO)
Nick Richards (UFA)
Walker Kessler (RFA)
Sandro Mamukelashvili (PO)

That list of players is underwhelming and even more disheartening when we learn our fictional $100mill of cap space is actually less than half that amount.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Watson’s name has reportedly come up in Lakers meetings.

Buzz continues to intensify linking the Los Angeles Lakers to Denver Nuggets wing Peyton Watson.

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin revealed that the Lakers have “privately discussed” potentially acquiring Watson in restricted free agency this coming summer.

Lakers have privately discussed signing Peyton Watson

McMenamin noted that the Nuggets already have a substantial amount of salary committed for 2026 — $215 million, to be exact. This might prevent Denver from matching an offer sheet for Watson, although there’s also the possibility that the Nuggets could trade Christian Braun (or others) to make fiscal room for Watson.

Might the Lakers be willing to pivot from Watson, their clear target, and acquire Braun instead? That remains to be seen, but McMenamin also mentioned five other players the Lakers could be in on.

McMenamin reported that the Lakers have internally discussed unrestricted free-agents-to-be Andrew Wiggins and Tari Eason. McMenamin also mentioned Tobias Harris, Quentin Grimes, and Dean Wade as players who “fit that profile.

Watson represents the cream of the crop, based on his age (he’ll be 24 entering the 2026-27 season), athleticism, defensive versatility, and greatly improved 3-point shot. Watson is averaging 14.9 points per game for Denver this season on 41.7 percent from downtown.

At 6-foot-8, Watson represents a potential upgrade to Rui Hachimura as a big wing who can defend four positions. Watson is bouncier than Hachimura and has more offensive upside.

It’s no secret that Los Angeles needs big, athletic wings who can defend. Luka Doncic was surrounded by these types of players in Dallas when he reached the NBA Finals in 2024.

The non-Watson targets for the Lakers this summer each have a characteristic that prevents them from checking all the boxes.

Norman Powell? Not quite tall enough to guard bigs. The same can be said for Anfernee Simons, Kevin Huerter, Bennedict Mathurin, and Grimes.

Wiggins is intriguing, but he’s already reached his ceiling as a player, whereas Luka might be able to unlock a new level that we haven’t seen from Watson, thereby increasing the Lakers’ return on investment.

Eason would really help defensively, and he’s young, but he’s limited offensively. And Tobias Harris would be decent, but he’s near the end of his career and wouldn’t necessarily be an upgrade over Hachimura.

There aren’t any wing targets that can compete with Watson, beyond a potential Lakers trade for Lu Dort. It’ll be interesting to see if Denver makes a surprising trade or two to allow for the re-signing of Watson, thereby dashing the Lakers’ plans.

I think alot will depend on how DEN performs in the playoffs. They feel they were close last year taking OKC to 7 games even with Gordon & Porter at far less than 100%. They spent a ton of money last summer to get over the hump but injuries have bit them again so far. If they get healthy and make a deep run then my guess is they’ll do what it takes to hold on to Watson instead of taking a step backwards.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Six and a half minutes remained in the second quarter of a dog fight between the Lakers and a shorthanded Dallas Mavericks team. With a timeout, head coach J.J. Redick calls for a switch in their defense from traditional man coverage to zone, leading to three straight stops and pushing a six-point lead to a more comfortable 13 en route to an eventual blowout win behind a triple-double from LeBron James.

LA heads into the All-Star break ranked 23rd in defense, a position that puts a clear ceiling on any hopeful contender. While it’s not a long-term solution, increased zone implementation has given the team a counter to some of the natural defensive liabilities on the roster while simplifying responsibilities.

​When you are a defense ranked in the bottom seven, you clearly need a shakeup not just with personnel but in schematics or style.

​Since playing the Raptors on January 18, the Lakers increased their zone usage to 17.6%, a number that would lead the league by a mile, as revealed in the graphic shown below during Amazon Prime’s NBA coverage.

The team’s zone is allowing stingy 0.86 points per possession and while that’s not a sustainable level of production on that end of the floor, it reveals the new look defense is having some success.

LA mainly relies on a 2-3 zone defense, featuring two perimeter players and three backside players, moving from man-to-man responsibility to defending an area of the floor.

Watch below as the Lakers settle into their 2-3 zone against the Mavs following a timeout. LA, who struggles with dribble penetration, forces the offense to keep moving the ball across the perimeter while shutting off driving lanes and eating up the clock.

It’s a protection against getting beat off the dribble, which happens frequently as the Lakers play a host of slow perimeter players, and it provides certainty about where defensive help comes from. Jaxson Hayes operates from the middle here but shifts across the floor in sync with his team.

“I feel like it gives all of us a better vision of the offense,” Hayes said postgame. “We are all a little back some more, so we all can see and communicate a little better. We’re not just hugged up on our mans. The paint is a little more crowded, so it’s harder for teams that struggle with shooting to score on it.”

The Lakers give up the highest field goal percentage at the rim at 72.4%. One way to alleviate some of the damage is to prevent teams from getting there in the first place.

The Raptors, who came in with the fourth-highest percentage of points in the paint, were held in check and flummoxed by the Lakers’ zone defense.

One of the points of the zone is to force the offense into multiple passes, creating more opportunities for indecision and mistakes. It can be especially useful for two big lineups that otherwise lack foot speed, helping them stay in front of defenders.

Watch below as Redick uses it against the Raptors with a Drew Timme and Deandre Ayton frontline, leveraging their size alongside LeBron James and Jared Vanderbilt.

Once again, as the ball swings on the perimeter, all five guys on the floor shift into their correct positions. The Lakers close out the driving lanes, fly around, and force a tough, contested step back three from Gradey Dick.

“We’ve ran it a few times a game recently,” Redick said after the Toronto win. “Sometimes it’s hard, both as a coach and as a player, when you run it, and it’s a good possession of defense, and the other team hits an off-the-dribble three, which has happened this week. One game it happened three times and it can kind of deflate you.

“But we think it could be a weapon for us tonight, we talked pregame about something that I certainly wanted to do and we wanted to do as a staff and the players were bought into it.”

A zone, no doubt, has loud weaknesses, and there’s a reason teams go to it in spurts as a change of pace. Zone busters, or high-volume 3-point shooters, also exist across the league, waiting for the open shot opportunities they create for offenses. In addition, teams running zone can give up more offensive rebounds as box out responsibilities become disoriented.

The first hurdle to get over in a defensive scheme is buy-in from the players, something Redick seems to have in this group.

“Yeah, that thing got us going,” Ayton said of the zone. “I think really just talking and communicating, getting the blood flowing, knowing who got your back out there and the coaches seeing what works here. Just seeing different coverages thrown at the team and seeing what they could throw back at us.”

This defense has provided an unexpected jolt for the Lakers and even if it has flaws, it might be enough to keep them going for the rest of the season, especially if health allows their high-powered offense to find a similar groove.

That zone will get shredded in the playoffs when faced with good teams who have time to prepare and become familiar over a 7 game series. Bad, lazy teams just try to shoot over it during the regular season because it’s the easier path.