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The Lakers were relatively quiet at the trade deadline aside from swapping Gabe Vincent for Luke Kennard. That’s in part because their proximity to their first-apron hard cap (less than $1.5 million away) limited what they could do.
That shouldn’t be the case this offseason.
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The Lakers have long been projected to boast max or near-max cap room and the trade deadline did not change that. Because both Vincent and Kennard are on expiring contracts, that trade had no bearing on the Lakers’ outlook beyond this year.
That was undoubtedly intentional. With LeBron James’ future still very much up in the air, the Lakers are keeping their options open.
That isn’t the case for every team that was initially projected to be a factor in the 2026 free-agent market. The Washington Wizards were initially projected to have $80-plus million in cap space this offseason, but they spent it all in “pre-agency” by acquiring Trae Young and Anthony Davis ahead of the trade deadline. The Utah Jazz blew through theirs as well by acquiring Jaren Jackson Jr. while the L.A. Clippers made a pair of trades that suggests Kawhi Leonard could be next to go this offseason.
Keith Smith of Spotrac now projects only three teams to have significant cap space this offseason, plus/minus the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons. The Lakers are leading the way.
Longtime salary-cap analyst Yossi Gozlan took it one step further.
That seems good. Is that good? (Just don’t spend it all on a 34-year-old Paul George. Take it from a Sixers fan.)
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The Lakers’ 2026-27 cap sheet
The Lakers have two major variables to confront this offseason: LeBron’s future and Austin Reaves’ free agency. The good news is that until they re-sign Reaves, their cap sheet is relatively clean at the moment.
Luka Dončić will begin the three-year max extension he signed this past August, which will start at 30% of whatever next year’s salary cap ends up being. Based on the current $166 million cap projection, Dončić’s new deal would start at $49.8 million.
For now, Dončić is the only Lakers player under contract for next season who’s earning…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/lakers-2026-27-salary-cap-191000076.html
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Publish date : 2026-02-19 19:10:00
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