The Lakers will try to turn themselves into championship contenders at the trade deadline. In order to do that, they will have to part ways with a couple of their players. They also have plenty of key players hitting free agency at the end of the season. These names will almost certainly not be able to make it past 2025 in Los Angeles. Let’s take a look at some Lakers for who the clock is ticking.
1. Gabe Vincent
After a completely lost 2023-24 season in which he missed all but 11 regular-season games, Vincent is healthy and a regular rotation player for the Lakers. He hasn’t missed a game all season and plays over 19 minutes per game off the bench.
Unfortunately, however, the 28-year-old combo guard still hasn’t lived up to the three-year, $33 million deal he signed in the 2023 offseason. In his minutes this season, he is averaging 4.4 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1 assist per game with 37.6% shooting from the field, and 33% from downtown. His lack of efficiency and shooting on the offensive end of the court makes things difficult for the Lakers offense.
Vincent’s calling card is his defense. He is one of the better perimeter defenders for this team with his ability to get over screens, stick to shooters, and make things difficult for the opponent.
As a bench player, he is not the worst option. He is also not the biggest problem for the Lakers. However, this team desperately needs two-way players and Vincent doesn’t move the needle enough to keep around past the trade deadline.
His $11 million salary for this season makes him a good trade chip. These types of mid-sized contracts are valuable to match salaries in any deal, making Vincent an ideal trade asset.
Even if Vincent stays past this deadline, he will likely be gone in the offseason. He will be on an expiring contract in the summer, increasing his appeal for other teams in the league. If he stays healthy all season, he could even boost his trade value.
2. Jarred Vanderbilt
So far, this list has been a damning indictment on Rob Pelinka and the contracts he has given out in recent years. Another contract that didn’t work out for the Lakers is Jarred Vanderbilt’s. The defensive standout signed a four-year, $48 million deal with the Lakers before the 2023-24 season. Since then, he only made 29 appearances for the team and played 20 minutes per game.
Paying mid-level exception type of money for a player who hasn’t contributed at all in the past 1.5 years is not an ideal situation. Vanderbilt hasn’t played in the last year after suffering a setback in his left knee injury. He is reportedly targeting a January return, but how quickly he can ramp up and get back to his pre-injury form remains to be seen.
Even when he is healthy and available, Vando is a limited player, especially on the offensive end. He is a hesitant shooter despite the fact that he is usually left wide open. A career 29% three-point shooter, he creates significant spacing concerns for the Lakers. For a team that plays a non-shooting big man like Anthony Davis, that is a significant challenge.
Like Vincent, the calling card for Vanderbilt is his defense. He is a versatile defender who can guard multiple positions and provide intensity and playmaking. He is the athletic defensive stalwart that the Lakers conceptually need.
The Lakers are already thin in the frontcourt. They can’t afford to have another unreliable, injury-prone big man in the rotation. They need someone who they can depend on throughout the regular season because of LeBron James’ age and Anthony Davis’ availability concerns.
Vanderbilt may be hard to trade at the deadline because of his injury concerns but due to his mid-sized salary, he will likely be used as a trade asset for a more impactful player.
3. Rob Pelinka
None of this matters as long as GM Rob Pelinka stays in his role. Lakers fans can criticize the players and the coaching staff for their various shortcomings but the main problem for this organization is poor management. It obviously starts at the top with ownership and Jeanie Buss but since they are not selling the team any time soon, it’s time to make a change in the lead decision maker.
Pelinka has been able to avoid blame in recent years due to the unfair scapegoating of Darvin Ham. His roster construction has arguably been the worst part of the Lakers during his tenure.
Since the 2020 championship, the Lakers have consistently failed to put a championship-caliber roster around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. If anything, they moved on from quality, playoff-level role players like Alex Caruso, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Dennis Schroder, and Kyle Kuzma and replaced them with questionable one-way players.
Once full of high-level role players, the Lakers now lack shooting, perimeter defense, frontcourt depth, and athleticism. The disastrous Russell Westbrook trade was the original sin, but failing to find cheap contributors or trade for impact players since then has been equally damaging.
Unless the Lakers make a miraculous deep postseason run, it’s hard to see how one can justify keeping Rob Pelinka around. At some point, you will run out of other people to point fingers at, and that time may be coming for this front office.
