Examining Lakers’ Salary Cap, Decisions for 2023 NBA Free Agency After Nuggets Loss

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The Los Angeles Lakers’ roller-coaster season ended without a championship.

The Purple and Gold will now turn their attention toward the offseason following their Western Conference Finals loss to the Denver Nuggets and look to build on the momentum they generated with a flurry of moves ahead of this season’s trade deadline.

It is no small feat for a team that started 2-10 to advance as far in the playoffs as the Lakers did, and it is partially a testament to the front office’s ability to transform the roster around LeBron James and Anthony Davis by moving Russell Westbrook and others to bring in players such as D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley.

Yet there weren’t a lot of prohibitive commitments that came with those moves, as the Lakers enter the offseason with $29.6 million in practical cap space, per Spotrac.

They have hardly any long-term money on the books with just seven players under official contract for the 2023-24 season, including James, Davis, Vanderbilt, Beasley and Mo Bamba.

Their list of impending free agents includes Russell (unrestricted), Austin Reaves (restricted), Hachimura (restricted), Dennis Schröder (unrestricted) and Lonnie Walker IV (unrestricted), so there are some decisions to be made.

Reaves, Hachimura and Russell jump out, although their situations are somewhat different since Los Angeles will be able to match any offers for the former two as restricted free agents.

There might not be much motivation to leave for Reaves, either, considering the 24-year-old told Dave McMenamin of ESPN in April that “I would love to be here my whole career.”

McMenamin cited a rival Western Conference executive who said Reaves is an attractive player for “literally every team in the league,” although he also reported the Lakers’ “intent” was to keep him on the roster.

Given the mutual interest from both sides, his status as a restricted free agent and Los Angeles’ salary-cap situation, it would be a surprise if the Oklahoma product was anywhere else next season.

As for Russell, he told Sam Amick of The Athletic during the playoffs he “would love to stay here.”

While the 27-year-old is a streaky player and struggled against Denver, the Lakers will surely prefer to bring him back considering they gave up their 2027 first-round pick in the deal to acquire him.

Russell is also a much better fit around James and Davis than Westbrook was because of his three-point shooting and ability to play off the ball, which should increase the motivation to re-sign him.

Perhaps Los Angeles will go a more high-profile route and pursue a free agent such as Kyrie Irving and give him a chance to reunite with James.

But the team’s season turned around with its series of moves ahead of the trade deadline, and it proved it can make a deep run in the playoffs with this core group of players.

Taking the next step may be as simple as keeping the core together, matching any offers for Reaves and Hachimura—who played notably well in his role in the playoffs—and relying on the boost that could come from continuity and additional experience together that wasn’t there when the front office revamped the roster on the fly this season.

That would start with bringing back that trio of role players.