Apr 30, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) moves in for the dunk against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second half in game five of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Lakers Could Capitalize on This Factor to Add Major Talent

Originally posted on Los Angeles Lakers on SI
By Ryan Stano | Last updated Jun 3, 2025 3:12 PM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers are going to have to make significant improvements to their roster if they want to make any kind of deep playoff run next season.

Los Angeles wasn't expecting to be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. They were hoping to make much more noise, especially after acquiring Luka Doncic a couple of weeks before the trade deadline.

The Lakers don't have much cap space this summer to sign players in free agency. LeBron James doesn't seem to want to take a pay cut to give the Lakers some more flexibility.

Los Angeles might not have a lot of cap space, but they do have one big advantage this summer that they can use. The Lakers have a ton of expiring contracts that they can use to help facilitate some trades.

In fact, they have about $60 million in expiring contracts that they can work with.

"I expect them to be extremely aggressive this offseason. ... They are going to go out and get a center."

—@BobbyMarks42 on the Lakers pic.twitter.com/I16hbLHgrs
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 3, 2025

The Lakers have several players that they could move in order to fix some of their biggest holes, namely at center and a perimeter defender. Those are the two things that they need the most.

Gabe Vincent and Rui Hachimura are the two guys who get brought up the most when talking about the expiring contracts. They could look to move both in order to bring in a pretty good starting center.

They would much rather part ways with Vincent than Hachimura. Hachimura is a much better defender than Vincent is, and he's been much more healthy.

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Availability is the best ability, and Vincent hasn't been available. He has played in just 83 games over the last two years. That's part of the reason why it might be hard to trade him in exchange for a solid player.

The Lakers need guys who can play better defense. It's the only way they will have any chance of winning an NBA title. What kind of players they can get for Hachminura and Vincent will determine how they approach the rest of the summer.

This season, Hachimura averaged 13.1 points, five rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. Vincent averaged 6.4 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game.

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For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Lakers, visit Los Angeles Lakers on SI.

This article first appeared on FanNation All Lakers and was syndicated with permission.

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