The 2025 offseason is not off to a great start for the Los Angeles Lakers. The team already lost Dorian Finney-Smith in free agency, there are rumors that LeBron James could want a trade and the only free agent signing they made on Day 1 was forward Jake LaRavia, who averaged 7.3 points per game last season.
There is still time for the Lakers to make moves, but they’re missing out on a lot of potential impact players. Now that James appears to have one foot out the door, Los Angeles is likely thinking about the future.
However, they have Luka Doncic, who makes the Lakers formidable even without James. Even with that in mind, Pelinka could be looking to the distant future to fully round out the roster, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“By Finney-Smith leaving, L.A. has access to the full midlevel exception, rather than the taxpayer’s MLE — worth approximately half at $6.7 million — and also the biannual exception, worth approximately $5.1 million,” McMenamin wrote.
“Though Finney-Smith was a popular locker room figure and helped the Lakers to a 14-6 record in the 20 games he started in the regular season, L.A. exercised discipline in its negotiations to preserve cap space for 2027, when the team expects to have space to sign a max-salary free agent.”
Pelinka Slammed for Inaction
It’s important to note that McMenamin wrote that Pelinka is saving cap space for 2027, which is two years from now. That seems like a perplexing strategy when the Lakers have Doncic on the roster and James is still on the team for now.
Longtime NBA insider Kevin O’Connor was perplexed by McMenamin’s report.
“2027? You mean…two summers from now…for a player they may or may not be able to get? Is Rob Pelinka insane? YOU HAVE LUKA DONCIC AND LEBRON JAMES ON YOUR TEAM TODAY!” O’Connor wrote on X.
Fans are particularly unhappy with Pelinka.
“The Luka trade, which was mostly Nico, made people forget that Rob Pelinka is really not that good,” one fan wrote on X.
“Pelinka is a terrible gm. Why give up 3 2nds if you had no intention of giving DFS the deal he wanted,” another fan wrote.
The Lakers are changing ownership, so Pelinka doesn’t have the same amount of job security. It remains to be seen if he’ll have the chance to enact his plan for 2027.
LaRavia Was Lakers’ First Call
LaRavia isn’t a name that will get fans too excited, but he was a player whom the Lakers coveted. According to The Athletic’s Dan Woike, they were eager to get him signed.
“According to league sources, LaRavia was the Lakers’ first call when free agency officially opened at 3 p.m. Pacific Time on Monday,” Woike wrote. “In his conversation with Rob Pelinka and Lakers coach JJ Redick, LaRavia and his team were impressed with the ways Pelinka sold the strengths of the Lakers’ brand and Redick’s detailed vision for how he’d like to use the young wing.”
LaRavia should be a key role player for the Lakers, but there are still many needs on the roster, especially at center.
