Los Angeles Lakers Rumors

NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots

October 22nd, 2025 at 11:13am CST by Luke Adams

Each of the NBA’s 30 teams is permitted to carry 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals once the regular season begins, which works out to a maximum of 540 players across 30 rosters.

[RELATED: 2025/26 NBA Roster Counts]

Of those 540 potential roster spots, 522 are currently occupied to open the 2025/26 season, leaving 18 open roster spots around the NBA across 17 teams. Here’s the full breakdown of those 18 openings around the league:

One open standard roster spot and one open two-way slot

Cleveland Cavaliers

The only team operating above the second tax apron, the Cavaliers are likely in no hurry to fill the 15th spot on their standard roster, which would cost them exponentially more in tax penalties beyond the player’s salary. Cleveland also has the ability to make changes involving its 14th roster spot at some point if it wants to — Thomas Bryant minimum-salary contract is fully non-guaranteed, so he’d only be owed a prorated portion of his salary if he’s waived at some point on or before January 7.

While two-way players don’t count against the salary cap, they still earn modest salaries (half the rookie minimum), so it’s possible the Cavs will look to save a little money on the league’s priciest roster by holding their third two-way slot open for the time being. A team that has an open standard roster spot is also limited to 90 overall active games for its two-way players instead of 50 apiece, so the Cavs probably aren’t looking to use up many of those games early in the season if they can help it.

One open standard roster spot

Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics
Denver Nuggets
Detroit Pistons
Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Miami Heat
Minnesota Timberwolves
New York Knicks
Orlando Magic
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Toronto Raptors

Many of these teams are carrying an open roster spot for luxury tax reasons. The Celtics, Nuggets, Warriors, Rockets, Clippers, Lakers, Timberwolves, Knicks, Magic, Sixers, Suns, and Raptors are all over the tax line, while the Heat don’t have much breathing room below it.

Most of those teams will add 15th men eventually, but won’t do so yet. Several of them – Golden State, Houston, both L.A. teams, New York, and Orlando – actually can’t do so yet, since they’re operating so close to their respective hard caps.

The Hawks have room under the tax line for a 15th man, but of all the teams in this group, the Pistons could be the best bet to fill their open roster spot sooner rather than later. They’re well more than $20MM below the tax line, so there are no concerns related to finances or spending flexibility. Still, given that Jaden Ivey is the only player on the roster dealing with more than a day-to-day injury right now, there’s no urgency to bring in a 15th man immediately.

One open two-way slot

Brooklyn Nets

In the past, a team without a G League affiliate of its own might be slow to fill its two-way contract slots, but all 30 NBA clubs now have affiliates in the NBAGL, so outside of thriftiness, there’s no real excuse not to carry a full complement of two-way players once the G League season begins in the coming weeks.

That’s especially true for the Nets, whose team salary is the lowest in the league entering the season. With so many rookies on the team’s standard roster, a third two-way player might not see any action at the NBA level anytime soon, but it would still make sense for Brooklyn to bring in another young prospect to develop in the G League.

Lakers’ Kleber Out At Least Two Weeks With Oblique Strain

October 21st, 2025 at 10:53am CST by Luke Adams

Maxi Kleber won’t be available when the regular season gets underway, according to the Lakers, who announced today that the veteran big man has an oblique strain and will be reevaluated in approximately two weeks.

Kleber, acquired from Dallas in February’s Luka Doncic blockbuster, broke his foot in January and didn’t make his Lakers debut until Game 5 of their first-round series vs. Minnesota, the team’s last game of the season.

Coming into this season, there was a sense that Kleber might have a chance to play a regular role in Los Angeles’ relatively thin frontcourt, but injuries have once again been a problem. He sustained a minor quad injury early in training camp that limited him to just a single preseason appearance, and now he’s expected to miss at least the club’s first eight games of the season due to an oblique issue.

Kleber has shown in the past that he can be an effective rotation player when healthy — he averaged between 21 and 27 minutes per game while appearing in between 50 and 74 contests in Dallas from 2018-22. However, health problems have slowed him down in the past three seasons. The 33-year-old has missed more regular season games (132) than he has played (114) since the start of the 2022/23 campaign.

With Kleber unavailable and forwards LeBron James and Adou Thiero also out to open the season, the Lakers figure to lean more heavily on centers Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes and forwards Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt in their frontcourt. Two-way center Christian Koloko could also play a role for L.A. in the early going.

Lakers Pick Up Dalton Knecht’s 2026/27 Option

October 21st, 2025 at 7:48am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers have exercised their team option for the 2026/27 season on forward Dalton Knecht, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).

The option, which is for the third year on Knecht’s rookie scale contract, is worth $4,201,080 and is now fully guaranteed. The Lakers will face their next decision on the 24-year-old a year from now, when they’ll have to determine whether or not to pick up his $6,452,859 option for the 2027/28 season.

If that fourth-year option is exercised, Knecht would become eligible for a rookie scale extension during the summer of 2027, with potential restricted free agency on tap for 2028 if he and the Lakers don’t work out a new deal before then.

The 17th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Knecht got off to a great start as a rookie last season, averaging 12.2 points per game and making 43.9% of his three-pointers in his first 19 outings. However, he averaged just 8.1 PPG and knocked down just 34.8% of his outside shots the rest of the way while struggling defensively.

Knecht shot 32.1% from the field and 23.7% on three-pointers in six Summer League appearances and wasn’t any better in the preseason, with shooting percentages of 32.0% from the floor and 23.5% from beyond the arc in six outings. Still, the Lakers remain confident in his ability to turn things around, having picked up his 2026/27 option with plenty of time to spare before the October 31 deadline.

As our tracker shows, Knecht is the only Laker whose contract includes a rookie scale team option for ’26/27.

Lakers Notes: Hayes, Starting Lineup, Injuries, Lobs

October 19th, 2025 at 8:01pm CST by Eli Cohen

Jaxson Hayes is dealing with a light sprain in his right wrist, but believes that he’ll be ready to go for the Lakers‘ regular season opener on Tuesday, reports Dan Woike of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Hayes left Friday’s preseason game early after injuring his wrist, but he says he’s ready to play through the injury. He is slotted to serve as the primary backup to Deandre Ayton this season after starting a career-high 35 games for the Lakers last season.

Hayes also spoke at greater length about his intention to become eligible for a Slovenian passport and play international basketball alongside Lakers’ teammate Luka Doncic, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter video link).

“We have the same agent, and my parents and his parents are all kind of working on it right now,” Hayes said. “But they came to me with the idea… I wanted to play on that stage, and I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get on that stage.”

Hayes added that Doncic and his family had been discussing the idea with him for the last year and a half. Woike confirmed (via Twitter) that Hayes is serious about the plan.

We have more Lakers news:

The Lakers unleashed their LeBron James-less opening night starting five in the preseason finale, writes McMenamin. The unit featured Gabe Vincent and Rui Hachimura alongside Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Ayton. McMenamin reports that Vincent, who averaged 16.2 points on 55.6% shooting from three during his strong preseason, was informed of his promotion on Friday morning. “I do think in that lineup there’s lot of shooting around Luka and [Ayton], and Gabe is another ball-handler, another tough defender, said head coach JJ Redick. “I think he fits in well, but you have to take a look at every matchup we play against and have to make a decision there.” The Lakers went just 1-5 during the preseason.
Redick shared some minor injury updates on Sunday afternoon, as relayed via Twitter by SoCal News Group’s Khobi Price. Chris Manon, on a two-way deal, was a full participant after previously suffering a Grade 2 ankle sprain. Bronny James and rookie Adou Thiero were modified participants as they look to return from ankle and knee injuries, respectively.
There’s a specific part of the Lakers’ offensive approach that Redick is concerned about heading into the season. “We’ve got to figure out our lobs,” Redick said, as reported by Price (Twitter video link). Redick added that a good lob connection is based on “concentration plus control.” Reaves expanded on that, discussing the difference between running the two-man game with Ayton as opposed to Hayes or Anthony Davis. “Every player is not the same,” he said. “I can throw some lobs to Jaxson that I can’t throw to DA. I can throw pocket passes to DA that I can’t throw to Jaxson. So it’s just reading personnel on the court and getting reps every single day together.”

Injury Notes: Queen, White, Brown, Raptors, Rockets, More

October 18th, 2025 at 2:08pm CST by Rory Maher

Rookie big man Derik Queen has been medically cleared to participate in full basketball activities, the Pelicans announced today (via Twitter).

Head coach Willie Green said Queen was a full participant in Saturday’s practice, tweets Will Guillory of The Athletic. While the team wants to get Queen up to speed, Green said New Orleans will be careful not to rush the process after a lengthy layoff.

Queen has been rehabilitating from July surgery to address a torn scapholunate ligament in his left wrist, an injury he sustained at Summer League in Las Vegas. He was a limited participant during New Orleans’ training camp due to the injury.

Queen was selected with the 13th overall pick in June after the Pelicans sent Atlanta this year’s No. 23 selection and an unprotected 2026 first-rounder (the most favorable of New Orleans’ and Milwaukee’s picks) for the right to draft the Maryland big man, who was highly productive in his lone season with the Terrapins. In 36 games last season, the 20-year-old forward/center averaged 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks in 30.4 minutes per contest.

We have several more injury notes from around the NBA:

Bulls guard Coby White, who has been battling a calf strain since August and didn’t play in any preseason games this fall, “looked good” after going through most of the contact portions of Saturday’s practice, according to head coach Billy Donovan (Twitter links K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network). Donovan added that White would go through additional contact work on Monday after taking Sunday off. For his part, White said he was encouraged by today’s session, though he cautioned he’s still working on regaining his conditioning and rhythm. “We’ll see. It’s in the works,” White said of potentially playing in Chicago’s season opener, per Johnson.
Celtics star Jaylen Brown sustained a left hamstring injury in Wednesday’s preseason finale. As Jay King of The Athletic writes, head coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t say whether Brown would be active for next Wednesday’s season opener, but the injury doesn’t sound serious — Brown is considered day-to-day, per Mazzulla.
Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic expressed optimism that lottery pick Collin Murray-Boyles could be ready for Wednesday’s season opener in Atlanta after the former South Carolina forward sustained an arm injury last week, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. According to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter links), Murray-Boyles is day-to-day with a right forearm strain.
Although Raptors center Jakob Poeltl missed time during preseason with lower back stiffness and exited Friday’s preseason finale with the same injury, Rajakovic clarified after the game that the Austrian big man was pulled for precautionary reasons (Twitter links via Lewenberg). Poeltl is under contract through 2029/30 after signing a lucrative long-term extension in July.
Forward Jae’Sean Tate, who underwent offseason ankle surgery, went through contract drills in Saturday’s practice, per Rockets head coach Ime Udoka (Twitter link via Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle). The team remains optimistic that Tate will be available for Houston’s season opener, but Dorian Finney-Smith probably won’t be, according to Udoka. Finney-Smith, a free agent addition, is recovering from June ankle surgery.
Former Alabama forward Grant Nelson was originally expected to sign an Exhibit 10 deal with the Nets shortly after Summer League in July, but the signing was delayed until a few days ago due to an otherwise unspecified “stress reaction from overworking,” he told Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “It was like a small, little minor injury that held me out of training camp. And then I feel like I did everything I could. I caught the injury really early, so I wasn’t out long. But it worked out perfect. So now I’m back healthy, feeling 100 percent.”
Backup Lakers center Jaxson Hayes exited Friday’s preseason finale with a right wrist contusion, the team announced (Twitter link via Dan Woike of The Athletic). Head coach JJ Redick said after the game that X-Rays on the wrist were negative, with another update on Hayes expected to come on Sunday, as veteran NBA report Mark Medina relays (via Twitter).
Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija experienced upper back stiffness on Thursday in Utah, causing him to exit Portland’s preseason finale, per the team (Twitter link). It’s unclear if Avdija will miss additional time as a result of the injury.

Lakers Cut Four Players Ahead Of Regular Season

October 18th, 2025 at 12:42pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers have placed Augustas Marciulionis, RJ Davis, Jeenathan Williams, and Anton Watson on waivers, the team announced today in a press release. All four were in camp with the team on non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contracts.

A two-time WCC Player of the Year, Marciulionis averaged 14.2 points, 5.9 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game in 35 outings last season for Saint Mary’s before going undrafted in June. The 6’4″ Lithuanian guard didn’t play at all for the Lakers during the preseason.

Davis, a six-foot guard who earned ACC Player of the Year honors for the 2023/24 season, averaged 17.2 points and 3.6 assists per game for North Carolina as a super-senior in ’24/25 before joining the Lakers as an undrafted free agent. He had a strong preseason, averaging 10.0 points in 14.3 minutes per game and making 66.7% of his field goal attempts.

Williams, who is more commonly known as Nate rather than Jeenathan, spent last season with the Rockets, first on a two-way deal and eventually on a standard contract. He got into 20 games, averaging 3.3 PPG and 0.7 RPG in 7.4 MPG, then was waived by Houston over the summer.

Watson also has some NBA experience, having appeared in nine games as a rookie last season for New York. The former Gonzaga forward, who was drafted 54th overall in 2024, spent most of the season on a two-way deal with the Celtics but was cut in March and was claimed by the Knicks.

Williams and Watson both played minor roles for the Lakers during the preseason.

All four players now appear on track to join the South Bay Lakers, L.A.’s G League affiliate. They’ll earn bonuses worth $85,300 apiece if they spend at least 60 days with South Bay.

Los Angeles’ roster, meanwhile, now seems set for the regular season — it features 14 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals. The Lakers don’t currently have room for a 15th standard contract due to the proximity of their team salary to a first-apron hard cap.

Pacific Notes: Kings, Christie, Westbrook, Hayes, Collins

October 17th, 2025 at 8:39am CST by Luke Adams

Within a story breaking down the Kings‘ decision to sign Russell Westbrook, Sam Amick of The Athletic says that “hordes” of opposing scouts have been attending Sacramento games during the preseason, since teams around the league anticipate that the Kings will be sellers at February’s trade deadline.

Westbrook is among several players on the Kings’ roster who will have something to prove this season, according to Amick, who notes that head coach Doug Christie falls into that category too.

As Amick details, citing league sources, the new contract that Christie signed in the spring when he was named the team’s permanent head coach is only guaranteed for two seasons, with a third-year team option. And his salary is only about $2MM annually in those first two years, followed by a significant increase if his option is exercised. In other words, Christie will have plenty of motivation to show during the next couple years that he deserves to keep his job.

We have more from around the Pacific Division:

Malik Monk, who played with Westbrook in Los Angeles, is excited to have his former teammate join the Kings, as Sean Cunningham of KCRA News relays (Twitter video link). Referring to Westbrook as “probably one of the best teammates I had,” Monk added that he thinks Westbrook can hold his own as an undersized power forward and defend opposing fours, which would help the club while Keegan Murray (thumb surgery) is sidelined.
After teaming up with Luka Doncic as members of the Lakers, center Jaxson Hayes wants to do so in international basketball competitions too. Hayes told reporters this week that he’s working on getting Slovenian citizenship in the hopes of representing the country in future competitions, per Eurohoops. A spokesperson for the Slovenian Basketball Federation confirmed that discussions are ongoing about adding a naturalized player at the center spot, but declined to offer specifics or confirm that Hayes is the player in question. “We are aiming to secure this player for a longer period to ensure the team’s stability in the coming years,” that spokesperson said.
Speaking to Law Murray of The Athletic about the offseason deal that sent him from Utah to Los Angeles and his expectations for the coming season, John Collins said the Clippers were “one of the first teams” he thought of when his name began to pop up in trade rumors. His head coach and teammates also expressed excitement about the fit. “It’s great. We get a big player like John on the floor, alongside Kawhi (Leonard), teams have a nightmare as far as matching up,” Tyronn Lue said. “You want to put a smaller guy on John, or a smaller guy on Kawhi? … (Collins’) versatility on both sides of the basketball is a huge thing for us.”

Injury Notes: Sabonis, George, Williams, Bailey, Vanderbilt

October 16th, 2025 at 9:46am CST by Luke Adams

The Kings fell to 0-3 during the preseason on Wednesday with a loss to the Clippers. More concerning than the defeat was the fact that star center Domantas Sabonis exited the game midway through the third quarter and was ultimately ruled out for the rest of the night due to what the team called a right hamstring issue, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (subscription required).

Sacramento already projects to be shorthanded in the frontcourt when the regular season begins next week, with forward Keegan Murray sidelined due to thumb surgery. It’s unclear whether or not Sabonis’ injury is serious enough to jeopardize his availability for the start of the season — head coach Doug Christie said after the game that he didn’t have a concrete update yet on the big man’s status.

“Listen, your star player goes down, you never want to see that, period,” Christie said, according to Anderson. “I can’t speculate on what it is. Hopefully it’s nothing. We have some time before the first game, but those are the things you just don’t want to see. But it’s part of what we do. It’s the same thing with Keegan. As unfortunate as it is, it’s just part of our game.”

We have more notes on injuries from around the NBA:

Sixers forward Paul George continues to make progress in his recovery from offseason knee surgery. Head coach Nick Nurse told reporters on Wednesday that George has advanced to participating in live, full-court three-on-three drills, as Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports relays (via Twitter). It’s the first time the veteran forward has taken part in live action this fall.
There’s a belief in Phoenix that center Mark Williams will be available for opening night after not playing at all in the preseason, says John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (Twitter link). The Suns big man has been playing 5-on-5 and will get the opportunity to take part in a few more scrimmages before the team’s opener next Wednesday. Gambadoro adds (via Twitter) that he doesn’t expect Jalen Green (hamstring) to miss more than two or three games at the start of the season unless he experiences another setback.
Rookie forward Ace Bailey has been ruled out for the Jazz‘s preseason finale on Thursday due to bilateral knee tendinopathy, tweets Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. Head coach Will Hardy downplayed the issue earlier this week, so there’s no indication at this point that Bailey won’t be ready when the regular season tips off next Wednesday.
Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt was ruled out of the second half of Wednesday’s preseason game vs. Dallas due to a left quad contusion, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic (Twitter link), who says the injury appeared to occur when Vanderbilt got kneed in the thigh. Vanderbilt is hoping to play a key role for L.A. this season after being limited to 65 total outings over the last two regular seasons due to health issues.

Warriors, Lakers Top 2025 NBA Franchise Valuations

October 16th, 2025 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors are still the NBA’s most valuable team, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico, who unveiled the website’s updated NBA franchise valuations for 2025 on Thursday.

Badenhausen projects the Warriors’ value at $11.33 billion, which represents an incredible 24% increase from last year’s $9.14 billion valuation. The NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, at $12.8 billion, continue to be the only global sports franchise whose valuation comes in higher than Golden State’s, according to Sportico’s projections.

As Badenhausen outlines, the Warriors lead the NBA in revenue by a significant margin, having generated an estimated $833MM last season. Golden State makes more than $5MM per game in ticket revenue, along with $2.5MM from luxury suites; the club also has a $45MM per year jersey patch deal with Rakuten, earns almost double what any other team makes in sponsorship revenue, and is one of the few teams to fully own and operate its arena, per Sportico.

After placing third a year ago, the Lakers have jumped to second place on Sportico’s 2025 list at $10 billion, based on Mark Walter‘s recent agreement to purchase the team at that valuation. The Lakers moved slightly ahead of the third-place Knicks, who come in at $9.85 billion.

Every team’s valuation has increased by at least 9% since last year, per Sportico, with the average value of an NBA franchise now at $5.51 billion (up 20% from 2024) and no team worth less than $4 billion.

The average valuation has more than doubled since 2022, when it was $2.58 billion. As Badenhausen writes, the NBA’s new $76 billion media rights deal and its global ambitions – including the possible creation of a league in Europe – have played a part in those gains.

Although the Warriors’ $833MM is something out of an outlier, NBA teams generated an average of approximately $408MM in revenue last season, according to Badenhausen, with the Grizzlies coming in last at $301MM. Memphis also ranks 30th on Sportico’s list of franchise values.

Despite placing at the bottom of this list, the Grizzlies actually had the most significant increase in their franchise valuation this past year, rising from $3.06 billion to $4 billion (31%). The Pelicans (30%), Timberwolves (29%), and Eastern Conference champion Pacers (27%) were the other biggest risers.

Of course, it’s worth noting that figures from Sportico or any other media outlet are just estimates and often don’t quite match up with the sale prices for franchises that change hands. But these projections are usually in the right ballpark and remain useful for getting a sense of the league’s most and least valuable teams.

Here’s Sportico’s full list of NBA franchise valuations for 2025:

Golden State Warriors: $11.33 billion
Los Angeles Lakers: $10 billion
New York Knicks: $9.85 billion
Los Angeles Clippers: $6.72 billion
Boston Celtics: $6.35 billion
Brooklyn Nets: $6.22 billion
Chicago Bulls: $6.12 billion
Miami Heat: $6.03 billion
Philadelphia 76ers: $5.61 billion
Houston Rockets: $5.53 billion
Dallas Mavericks: $5.24 billion
Toronto Raptors: $5.22 billion
Phoenix Suns: $5.09 billion
Atlanta Hawks: $5.02 billion
Sacramento Kings: $5 billion
Cleveland Cavaliers: $4.86 billion
Denver Nuggets: $4.8 billion
Washington Wizards: $4.78 billion
Indiana Pacers: $4.76 billion
Milwaukee Bucks: $4.54 billion
San Antonio Spurs: $4.5 billion
Oklahoma City Thunder: $4.34 billion
Utah Jazz: $4.27 billion
Portland Trail Blazers: $4.25 billion
Minnesota Timberwolves: $4.24 billion
Orlando Magic: $4.21 billion
Detroit Pistons: $4.17 billion
Charlotte Hornets: $4.13 billion
New Orleans Pelicans: $4.02 billion
Memphis Grizzlies: $4 billion

As Badenhausen notes, Sportico’s projections are based on a control sale price, rather than limited stake purchases. Controlling shares in the Celtics, Lakers, and Trail Blazers all changed hands this past year, though only the Celtics sale has been formally approved by the NBA so far.

William Chisholm is buying the Celtics in two stages, with an initial valuation of $6.1 billion and a blended valuation of roughly $6.5 billion. Walter is purchasing the Lakers at a valuation of $10 billion, while Tom Dundon is buying the Blazers at a $4.25 billion valuation.

LeBron James Aiming To Make Season Debut By Mid-November

October 15th, 2025 at 10:59pm CST by Eli Cohen

In the wake of the news that LeBron James would miss the start of the Lakers‘ season with sciatica on his left side, there has now been an update in his timeline, courtesy of ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter video link).

Charania says that James and the Lakers are targeting a mid-November season debut, but that LeBron will not rush back prematurely.

“A source told me tonight that LeBron would be taking a patient approach with this rehab from nerve injury,” Charania said. “The ramp-up process for this will be a lot of basketball-shape conditioning work.”

Charania notes that James started dealing with the nerve issue during a workout at the end of July or beginning of August, which impeded his usual preseason training ramp-up period.

Charania points to October 30 as a key date for James to be reevaluated, but adds it’s expected that he will need at least a few weeks after that to return to a conditioning level that he feels comfortable with before taking the floor again.

James, who will turn 41 in December, has played at least 75 games, including playoffs, in each of the last two seasons, after not having reached that benchmark since the 2017/18 season.