FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

The Los Angeles Lakers regrettably lost Dorian Finney-Smith to the Rockets, and Houston is the painfully obvious team to steal Austin Reaves when he hits free agency in the summer of 2026. The 6’5 wing is in line for a massive payday, and the Lakers are limited to what they can offer in an extension. Reaves will hit the open market, and several teams will have interest in signing him.

The Rockets would love a dynamic scoring guard to fit with their young core. They traded for Kevin Durant, but can’t expect the future Hall of Famer to remain elite for five years. Reaves is just entering his prime and would be the perfect scorer to round out Houston’s bruising defensive identity. They likely try to move on from Fred VanVleet after his devastating injury, and Reaves would fit perfectly in FVV’s former role.

The Rockets have several key pieces in their early 20s. They are built for a lengthy run at the top, and landing Austin Reaves would open that window further. AR is a proven floor spacer and bucket getter who would immediately take Houston to a new level. Growth from their young talent could set up a heavyweight showdown with the Thunder for West supremacy for years to come.

Rockets are the biggest threat to steal Austin Reaves from the Lakers
This likely takes a sign-and-trade as the Rockets want to keep Kevin Durant and Tari Eason on fresh extensions. Houston is loaded with young talent and draft capital to make any deal. They could dump money elsewhere, so the Lakers would be forced to play ball. LA got nothing for Dorian Finney-Smith and likely wouldn’t get a massive haul for Reaves.

Houston will be attractive, but AR has stated he wants to be a Laker for Life. The pressure is on LA to make him prove that stance next summer. They must put Reaves in positions to succeed and grow his impressive skill set.

The Rockets are closer to title contention than the Lakers right now. Houston was just the second seed in the Western Conference before adding Kevin Durant. Los Angeles has Luka Doncic. The Slovenian superstar gives them a puncher’s chance, but the Rockets are deeper, more talented, and better positioned to further upgrade their roster. That will all be attractive to Reaves as he looks to win his first championship.

The Spurs, Knicks, Jazz, and more have all been linked to AR already. Reaves will likely be the marquee free agent in 2026, and players of his caliber rarely hit the open market. There will be plenty of drama, but the Lakers hope they can convince him to remain in LA as Luka’s running mate for years to come.

The Los Angeles Lakers will have several threats preparing to sign Austin Reaves in the offseason. Houston is the early favorite, but much will change before he hits the open market. The Lakers are in for a challenge and need to win this to keep Luka Doncic happy. The pressure is already on, and this will be a situation to monitor all season. All fans can do is hope and stay tuned to see how it all plays out.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Things got awkward in Los Angeles for a bit this summer, and they still might be on some level. At least for now, LeBron James seems to be in a pretty good headspace with the situation. When he picked up his $52 million option this summer, the messaging seemed to be that LeBron and the Lakers weren’t totally aligned on all things present and future. This is Luka Dončić’s franchise now.

Even though LeBron is still one of the top players in the world, the Lakers are focused on all things Luka and putting a team around him. That eventually (maybe even as soon as summer 2026) won’t include LeBron. So have they done enough to put a contending team around them? Is this season going to be super awkward? Let’s dive in!

Drama Meter: It’s pretty high but nothing totally detrimental, as of right now. This could easily get to a 10 if Deandre Ayton is still too aloof or LeBron isn’t on the same page as Luka or JJ Redick or this team gets off to a slow start. Then we’ll find out how much drama there can be.

Hot Seat Meter: One year into the job and his coaching career, Redick received a contract extension through 2030 with the Lakers. This seat is beyond cold.

Offseason question: We still don’t know! The Lakers will have a lot of roster flexibility this summer, as has been the case in most of Rob Pelinka’s tenure running this franchise. LeBron doesn’t seem to be retiring after this year (as of right now). And the Lakers aren’t committing to him past this season (as of right now).

2026 free agents: LeBron James | Rui Hachimura | Austin Reaves (player option) | Deandre Ayton (player option) | Gabe Vincent | Maxi Kleber | Marcus Smart (player option) | Jaxson Hayes

Reaves will absolutely decline his option and make anywhere from $30 million to $40 million annually starting next season. Hachimura and Ayton could be in line for good paydays if they have strong years. And then there’s the LeBron of it all.

Expectation for this season: I don’t see why they can’t win 50 games again and put themselves firmly in the top six for the playoffs. From there, they have to get the correct matchup to even get out of the first round.

Where the Lakers stand one week from opening night https://t.co/UNmwoeVAkE— LakerTom (@LakerTom) October 14, 2025

BREAKING: Marcus Smart and Luka Doncic will make their preseason debuts on Tuesday against the Suns, per JJ Redick pic.twitter.com/EVZIVJKbvg— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) October 13, 2025

Yay!

From the above article:

Despite still being months away from the NBA trade deadline, rumors have swirled around Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. His potential availability has teams salivating at the thought of acquiring him, and the Los Angeles Lakers are likely one of those teams.

It would almost be unfair for him to end up in Los Angeles, especially after they trade-heisted the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic. Even so, Los Angeles tends to end up with the best players at some point in their careers.

And, if Giannis does become available, then they may have an ace up their sleeve to acquire him. As Lakers insider Jovan Buha points out, the Lakers would be better positioned to trade for Giannis after this season.

If he isn’t moved between now and the trade deadline, the Lakers will have three first-round picks available next summer. Obviously, Lakers fans are hoping that they can get in on a potential Giannis sweepstakes. Even so, they don’t currently have enough assets to outbid other teams, forcing L.A. to bide their time.

The Lakers may have to wait to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo

That means for the Lakers to have a realistic shot at acquiring him, he would have to play out next season with the Bucks. That is far from a guarantee and dependent on how well the Bucks play this season.

If they impress, then that might keep him from demanding a trade. If they don’t, then Giannis might ask them out. In that case, the Lakers might want the Bucks to play well enough to keep from demanding a trade until the offseason.
Los Angeles being able to offer up three first-round picks and multiple pick swaps would make for a far more competitive potential offer. Nevertheless, it comes with some trade-offs.

The Lakers have an outside chance at landing Giannis

The most notable is that the Lakers’ top trade asset, Austin Reaves, will become a free agent after next season. That means that he can only be traded ahead of the February deadline. As a result, waiting until the offseason would mean that the Lakers wouldn’t be able to trade him to Milwaukee barring a sign and trade.

Then, there is the fact that the Lakers have a unique situation where they have several other large expiring contracts. Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, and Maxi Kleber could all be moved in a Gannis trade this season but not this summer.
Of course, the Lakers will have massive cap space and could technically absorb Giannis’ contract while offering up all of their firsts going forward. Whether Giannis will be available next summer and whether the Lakers have enough to trade for him is yet to be decided. But they may have an outside chance to land him if everything goes their way.

What Do Luka & Lakers Need To Contend For NBA Championship The only reasonable explanation for the Lakers’ sudden shift in direction is they didn’t see a realistic path for acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo and were convinced that the new CBA now favored the ‘One Superstar’… pic.twitter.com/LT6BWQJBuK— LakerTom (@LakerTom) October 13, 2025

What Do Luka & Lakers Need To Contend For NBA Championship Whether long-term or temporary, the Thunder created a new blueprint for winning a championship by surrounding their young superstar point guard with a deep, young, long, athletic rotation of legitimate two-way players.… pic.twitter.com/oJotmSD7Ny— LakerTom (@LakerTom) October 13, 2025

What Do Luka & Lakers Need To Contend For NBA Championship What Luka and the Lakers need to be a championship contender is not Giannis Antetokounmpo or a second $60 million superstar but three $20 million or four $15 million or six $10 million per year elite role players.… pic.twitter.com/suDzS9kZoT— LakerTom (@LakerTom) October 13, 2025

Agreed. Another superstar, unless it’s one we draft and have cost control over, is not the smart move. I get that it’s glitzy and glamorous and kinda fun to imagine, I guess, but in the current CBA it makes little sense. You’re going to be relying on vet minimum players, for the most part, and face an overall talent deficit that will prove nigh impossible to overcome.

Welcome back, Buba. It’s almost Showtime!

Lakers win & 6 Lakers in double figures🔥 pic.twitter.com/7MZBqX0X0r— Playoff LAL (@PlayoffLAL) October 13, 2025

🏀 SUNDAY'S FINAL SCORES 🏀Austin Reaves' 21 pts on 7-10 fgm secures the @Lakers preseason win at home!Rui Hachimura: 16 pts, 3 3pmDalton Knecht: 16 pts, 3 rebDeandre Ayton: 14 pts, 8 reb, 5 ast, 6-8 fgmBrandin Podziemski: 23 pts, 8 ast https://t.co/5RkniiOWIp pic.twitter.com/p70qYXae87— NBA (@NBA) October 13, 2025

Lakers win for the first time this preseason, 126-116. Austin Reaves with 21 in 23 minutes, 16 each for Knecht and Hachimura, Ayton with 14-8-5 on 6/8 shooting. LaRavia (11) and Vincent (13) round out six players in double figures.— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) October 13, 2025

Deandre Ayton makes doubters eat crow after third preseason game https://t.co/Wpilg6J5Dr— LakerTom (@LakerTom) October 13, 2025

JJ on what he's seen so far in two games of the Austin/Ayton pick and roll combination "DA is really good at reading what the ball handlers defender is doing. What the call is whether it's a strong weak, or ice…He's made a concerted effort to get Austin open" pic.twitter.com/ygI8G3QlxJ— Raj C. (@RajChipalu) October 13, 2025

Austin Reaves says he’s fine after leaving Warriors game with injury https://t.co/mWnwvQYRSm— LakerTom (@LakerTom) October 13, 2025

While I think we all agree that preseason is, for the most part, fairly meaningless (unless you’re competing for that lost roster spot which isn’t a possibility this season), it’s nice to see the W. Going O-fer in preseason just opens up the doors to the doubters, naysayers, and nitpicking that comes with not mustering even one win. Nice to see us go wire to wire, too. Solid effort by the 3rd stringers to close it out.

Locker room refresh pic.twitter.com/5I4fIyAQ2Q— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 12, 2025

It’s this kind of thing that the new billionaire owner can spend on without restraint. Nice lookin locker room.

From the above article:

One of the best stories of the 2023 playoffs has been Austin Reaves, a former undrafted, two-way-contract guy who’s now become the Los Angeles Lakers’ third-best player.

The 24-year-old is averaging 16.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists and shooting 44.2 percent from three while taking ball-handling responsibilities off of LeBron James. Of course, the timing of this couldn’t be better for Reaves, who becomes a restricted free agent this summer.

As Marc Stein wrote on The Stein Line Substack, “Austin Reaves market…not clear yet. But there will definitely be a team or two that offers more than the Lakers want to spend. There will be at least one.”

This offer could come from a number of young teams with cap space that need a do-it-all combo guard, a list that includes the Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic and San Antonio Spurs.

The Lakers can only offer Reaves a four-year deal worth just over $50 million, but they can match any deal he receives as a free agent.

Given how well he has played, there’s no way he should accept a deal that averages less than $13 million per season, choosing to sign an offer sheet with another team instead.

It may put more pressure on the Lakers’ salary cap down the road, but L.A. simply can’t afford to lose Reaves, especially considering how bad D’Angelo Russell has been lately.

Reaves has become a good starting NBA player, one that the Lakers have needed to reach the Western Conference Finals. One way or another, they’ll pay him what it takes to stay.

Prediction: Reaves signs an offer sheet above $50 million with another team, one the Lakers will match.

I mean…no. But it could make for some tough overall roster decisions.

From the above article:

Perhaps if the Los Angeles Lakers had a more realistic chance of landing a transformational superstar like Giannis Antetokounmpo down the line they would be more hesitant to make short-term additions.

However, the Milwaukee Bucks star has been primarily connected to the New York Knicks, and Lakers insider Jovan Buha (54-minute mark, h/t Hoops Hype) reported Los Angeles might be “more open to a short-term move” as a result:

“Giannis Antetokounmpo has left the door cracked open, but we’ve since had the reporting that Giannis’ preferred destination was the Knicks, not the Lakers, and that it was really one team he was considering, and that was specifically the Knicks. I wonder if the Lakers recent shift toward being more of a kind of short-term or like win-now mode is maybe in part due to Dončić’s success at Eurobasket, but I think more so maybe gaining some intel that some of the big fish that they were hoping to catch are not going to be available or as available as they thought.

“I think the Lakers got to be careful with how they position themselves for the future because if it’s tough to find a Knicks-Giannis trade. So if that for whatever reason just can’t happen and Milwaukee refuses to play ball with New York because they just they don’t want to trade him in conference, they don’t like what New York’s offering, then the Lakers can swoop in and potentially offer a competitive package. … You got to be careful with the cap space, but it does seem like the Lakers are a little bit more open to a short-term move.”

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the Knicks were “the only place Antetokounmpo wanted to play outside of Milwaukee,” which led to trade discussions between the two teams.

Yet those discussions “never got traction” as “those in Milwaukee believe New York did not make a strong enough offer” while the Knicks did not think the Bucks “were serious about entertaining an Antetokounmpo trade.”

From the Lakers’ perspective, a short-term move could help them capitalize on the upcoming season with Dončić and LeBron James still paired together. The King is 40 years old and entering the final season of his deal, so the organization’s focus will likely eventually turn to building a winner around Dončić.

Los Angeles’ front office will surely evaluate how things are unfolding in the loaded Western Conference ahead of the February trade deadline and re-assess accordingly, but a quick start could make it more likely to focus on win-now moves with one of the league’s best one-two punches in Dončić and James leading the way.

That is especially true if the front office wouldn’t be sacrificing a realistic chance of landing a two-time MVP like Antetokounmpo with such a move.

I expect the Lakers to test the market for mid grade/injured players around the deadline. What can we get for Kleber or Vincent and a 2nd rounder? Probably not much, especially not by combining them into a deal and I don’t see us using the single FRP for anything less than a near All Star. Lot of teams up against a time line, though, and the Lakers were abke to seamlessly reset theirs (thanks again Nico!) so it’ll be interesting to see how aggressive we are midseason.

Someday, the Los Angeles Lakers were going to be without LeBron James, the question of “when” looming over the organization and paralyzing them from either pushing all in or fully embracing a future without him.

The unexpected opportunity to acquire Luka Dončić last season set the team fully on a new path forward, with James’ continued presence on the roster no longer the team’s guiding star.

Still, the news Thursday that the 40-year-old star would miss at least the next three-to-four weeks because of a sciatic nerve issue on his right side was fairly jarring.

First, it’s the words “at least,” which weren’t specifically used in the team’s announcement but were strongly implied when it said James would be “reevaluated” after that time frame.

Second, we can take the things we’ve heard in private and public in the build to the season regarding James’ health plan — most notably the league sources who said that James was going to take a different approach in his 23rd preseason in an effort to have him as healthy as possible at the end of the year and not at the beginning. And with that information, it seems more than safe to assume the Lakers will be conservative with James’ recovery; that could mean more time for recovery or ramp-up (or both) following that three-to-four-week timeframe.

Four weeks plus, say, one week for a ramp-up would have James out of action until early November. In some ways, this only forces the Lakers to stick to their plan, which, when it comes to James, has been notoriously difficult to adhere to. Coaches have talked about minutes restrictions and lessened workloads in training camp for years, only for James to have a 40-minute night by the seventh game.

Coach JJ Redick said unlike last year, this preseason will “be a slower process with (LeBron) leading into the first game.”
The injury could keep James from his 22nd straight All-NBA appearance by cutting into the chunk of games he’s allowed to miss under the league’s 65-games-played rule for awards.

The Lakers will likely lean on some combination of Rui Hachimura, Jake LaRavia and Jarred Vanderbilt to help fill the impossible hole left by the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. None of those players will be asked to do any of the things James does; they will, though, be asked to do more of what they do well in extended minutes while the Lakers are without one of their stars.

Vanderbilt, healthy for the first time in two summers, has looked good early this preseason and gives the Lakers some defensive toughness and versatility they desperately need.

Same goes for Austin Reaves, who has played well as the primary offensive player over the past two seasons when the Lakers have been minus James or Dončić or even, before that, Anthony Davis. He was already set for a big offensive role this season, but he’ll enter the season as the Lakers’ second-most important playmaker.

League sources scouting the Lakers in the preseason debut in Palm Desert left impressed with how Reaves held up as the primary offensive option. More of that in the non-Dončić minutes is suddenly even more critical.

The biggest thing that comes from this, though, is a chance for the Lakers to more fully lean into the reality they chose for themselves in February: Dončić drives everything they do. When healthy, Dončić is one of the NBA’s biggest floor-raisers, even if the roster isn’t perfectly built around him. He’s good enough to handle any stretch of challenges, including a first chunk of the schedule when the Lakers won’t be whole.

This, of course, is his team to lead long-term, and whether the Lakers were going to explicitly say it or not, it was always going to be on James to figure out the best ways to make it work around Dončić more so than the other way around.

That new reality wasn’t supposed to be thrust on them this quickly, and certainly not on opening night (a game James has never missed). But now that he’s out, the Lakers are squarely on their road forward.

And LeBron James, whenever he’s healthy, will need to catch up.

Lakers Rotation Rankings By Position:Luka Doncic/Gabe Vincent #2/30 PGAustin Reaves/Marcus Smart #6/30 SGRui Hachimura/Jake LaRavia #17/30 SFLeBron James/Jarred Vanderbilt #2/30 PFDeandre Ayton/Jaxson Hayes #19/30 CELakers did not rank #2 at any position.But did rank 2nd… https://t.co/ti7uePJ8sE pic.twitter.com/PWNtUXi6IA— LakerTom (@LakerTom) October 12, 2025