Los Angeles Lakers Not Expected to Make Trade Before 2025-26 NBA Season
The Los Angeles Lakers are not expected to make a trade before the 2025-26 NBA season, according to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints.
Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka hasn’t made an offseason trade since 2022, when he traded Stanley Johnson and Talen Horton-Tucker to the Utah Jazz for Patrick Beverley.
Los Angeles lost Dorian Finney-Smith to the Houston Rockets and added Jake LaRavia, Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart this offseason.
The Lakers fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025 playoffs in five games despite having Luka Dončić, LeBron James and home-court advantage. The team desperately needed a center, which is why Dončić recruited Ayton after the Portland Trail Blazers and Ayton agreed to a buyout.
Los Angeles second-year head coach JJ Redick is expected to start Dončić, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, James and Ayton next season. James, 40, turns 41 in December. He’s the oldest active player in the NBA. The future Hall of Famer will make $52.6 million next season in the final year of his contract.
James facetimed Dončić to congratulate him on his extension with the Lakers, according to NBA insider Marc Stein of The Stein Line. Dončić and James played 23 games together last season. Los Angeles went 15–8.
Dončić averaged 27.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists next to James, who averaged 23.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists alongside Dončić. The two superstars “have maintained communication dating back to the onset of the summer,” according to Anthony Irwin of ClutchPoints.
Dončić, who signed a three-year, $165 million extension with Los Angeles, is currently playing for Slovenia at EuroBasket. The five-time All-Star wants James to retire from the NBA with the Lakers, a source told DallasHoopsJournal.
Dončić has frequently said James was the player he watched most growing up. The former Dallas Mavericks star enjoyed playing alongside James last season and believes the Lakers can contend for the championship in 2025-26.
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