Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers’ LeBron James Opting In For 2025/26

June 29th, 2025 at 10:17am CST by Arthur Hill

Lakers superstar forward LeBron James is picking up his $52.6MM player option for the 2025/26 season, his longtime agent Rich Paul tells Shams Charania of ESPN.

According to Charania, James will be closely monitoring the Lakers’ moves this summer in the hopes of vying for a title next season.

“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” Paul told ESPN. “He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with [governor] Jeanie [Buss] and [president of basketball operations] Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.

“We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what’s best for him.”

James continued to produce at an unprecedented level for a player of his age after turning 40 last December. He was a second-team All-NBA selection, averaging 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists in 70 games. He also earned All-Star honors for the 21st straight season.

James’ season ended in disappointing fashion as the Lakers were ousted by Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs and he suffered an MCL sprain late in the final game. He recently said the injury is healing and he expects to be ready for training camp.

Picking up the option and ensuring that he’ll be a free agent in 2026 is a change in strategy for James, who typically renegotiates to make sure he has another option season left on his contract. He’ll set a record by playing in his 23rd NBA season, but a report on Saturday stated that he has considered retirement every summer since 2023.

Notably, given Paul’s statement above, exercising that player option instead of signing a new deal means James will remain trade-eligible throughout the offseason. He’s one of just two NBA players with a formal no-trade clause in his contract.

Among the moves James will be watching is whether the Lakers can upgrade at center, either through free agency or trades. They were weak at the position after parting with Anthony Davis in the Luka Doncic deal and often played without a big man on the court in the postseason.

If Dorian Finney-Smith – who also holds a player option – returns, the Lakers will likely have the $5.7MM taxpayer mid-level exception available to spend in free agency. If Finney-Smith opts out and signs with a new team or if the Lakers shed salary elsewhere on the roster, they could open up the $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

Lakers’ Goodwin, Kings’ Jones Have Team Options Exercised

June 29th, 2025 at 9:05am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers have exercised their minimum-salary team option for the 2025/26 season on guard Jordan Goodwin, while the Kings have done the same for forward/center Isaac Jones, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter links).

Goodwin, 26, signed a two-way contract with the Lakers after the trade deadline in February and played well for the team in the second half of the season, earning a promotion to the standard roster in late March. In 29 total appearances (five starts), he averaged 5.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.0 steal in 18.7 minutes per game, posting a solid shooting line of .438/.382/.818.

As our team option tracker shows, the move doesn’t assure Goodwin of his full $2.35MM salary for next season — only about $25K is guaranteed as a result of the option pick-up. He would have to remain under contract through January 7 in order to be guaranteed the full amount, so his roster spot could still be up in the air depending on how the rest of Los Angeles’ offseason plays out.

As for Jones, the undrafted rookie out of Washington State had a promising debut season for Sacramento in 2024/25, averaging 3.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per game across 40 outings. He made 65.1% of his field goal attempts and was promoted to the 15-man roster in March when he reached his limit of 50 active games.

There have been conflicting reports on whether or not Jones’ $1.96MM salary for 2025/26 will be fully guaranteed as a result of the Kings’ option pick-up.

In other team option news, the Suns have officially picked up guard Vasilije Micic‘s $8.1MM option for next season, Smith notes (via Twitter). That was a required procedural move in order for Micic to be included in the Mark Williams trade with Charlotte.

Suns’ Gillepsie, Lakers’ Koloko Among Two-Way Players Receiving QOs

June 29th, 2025 at 8:59am CST by Luke Adams

A series of players who finished the 2024/25 season on two-way contracts have received qualifying offers from their respective teams, making them free agents, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac. Those players are as follows (all links go to Twitter):

Isaiah Crawford, Kings (link)
Collin Gillespie, Suns link)
Harrison Ingram, Spurs (link)
Daniss Jenkins, Pistons (link)
Spencer Jones, Nuggets (link)
Christian Koloko, Lakers (link)
Riley Minix, Spurs (link)
Jacob Toppin, Hawks (link)
Luke Travers, Cavaliers (link)
Tristan Vukcevic, Wizards (link)
Keaton Wallace, Hawks (link)

In each case, the player’s qualifying offer is equivalent to another one-year, two-way deal, with a small portion (approximately $85K) guaranteed.

While a rival team could technically sign any of these players to an offer sheet during free agency, we essentially never see that happen with two-way free agents. Most of them end up either accepting their two-way QOs or agreeing to new standard contracts with their current teams.

Gillespie, who turned 26 on Wednesday, is among the players who made a strong case for a promotion to a standard contract this past season. He averaged 5.9 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per game for Phoenix across 33 appearances (nine starts) and made 43.3% of his three-point tries.

Koloko (2.4 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 37 games), Vukcevic (9.4 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and .496/.373/.776 shooting in 35 games), and Wallace (5.4 PPG and 2.6 APG in 31 games) also played rotation minutes for their respective clubs in 2024/25.

Sunday is the deadline for teams to make qualifying offers to players who are eligible for restricted free agency.

Fischer’s Latest: Yabusele, Kornet, Lopez, Hornets, Wolves, D. Robinson

June 28th, 2025 at 9:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Spurs weren’t successful in their attempt to trade for Kristaps Porzingis, who was ultimately sent from Boston to Atlanta, but they remain active in their pursuit of another big man, sources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).

Fischer echoes a recent report from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype that San Antonio is eyeing Guerschon Yabusele. “Multiple well-placed observers” tell Fischer that the Spurs are viewed as the biggest threat to sign Yabusele, but he hears that the Sixers haven’t given up hopes of keeping him. Fischer notes that San Antonio has a powerful recruiting tool in Victor Wembanyama, Yabusele’s teammate on the French Olympic team. Fischer mentions the Bucks as another team that could make a play for Yabusele.

Yabusele outperformed his contract after returning to the NBA on a one-year, minimum-salary deal following last year’s Summer Games. He became a reliable front court anchor during an injury-plagued season for Philadelphia.

Celtics backup center Luke Kornet could be another Spurs target, Fischer adds.

Fischer shares more inside information from around the league:

The Bucks could be losing their starting center, as Brook Lopez returns to free agency after getting strong interest from San Antonio and Houston two years ago. Sources tell Fischer that the Lakers are expected to pursue Lopez to fill their vacancy in the middle, and he adds that even if L.A. winds up with another option such as Clint Capela, there’s a belief that Lopez plans to leave Milwaukee.
Point guards are likely to draw interest on the market beyond teams such as the Kings, Mavericks and Clippers that have obvious needs. Fischer hears that the Hornets are searching for a veteran to back up LaMelo Ball, who has been plagued by injury issues for most of his career and appeared in just 47 games this season. Fischer adds that the Timberwolves are expected to explore trade and free agency options to improve their backcourt, as it appears Nickeil Alexander-Walker is likely to leave in free agency.
The Heat are awaiting Duncan Robinson‘s decision on his early termination option, which is due by Sunday. Robinson is set to make $19.888MM next season, but only $9.9MM of that is guaranteed. If he opts in, Miami will have 48 hours to waive him after the moratorium ends on July 6 to avoid paying the full amount. Fischer points out that Robinson’s name has been mentioned in several trade rumors over the years, including the Heat’s recent pursuit of Kevin Durant.

Free Agent Rumors: Kuminga, Heat, GPII, Portis, Jones, Bulls

June 28th, 2025 at 7:40pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat‘s interest in Warriors restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga has been overstated, according to Ethan J. Skolnick of Five Reasons Sports and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter links).

Miami has been mentioned multiple times in recent weeks as one of the teams that could make a play for the 22-year-old forward. However, Jackson says there’s no “active pursuit” from the Heat’s end.

Jackson acknowledges in a follow-up tweet that could change in the coming days or weeks, but it doesn’t sound like Kuminga will be a top priority for Miami when free agency opens on Monday evening.

Here are a few more notes and rumors on free agents from around the NBA:

Veteran guard Gary Payton II appears unlikely to return to the Warriors in free agency, a pair of sources tell Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area (Bluesky link). If Payton walks, Golden State will likely try to add a quality point-of-attack defender to replace him, Poole adds.
Bucks forward/center Bobby Portis and Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith are two potential free agents who are generating a “considerable amount of curiosity” around the NBA, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). Portis ($13.4MM) and Finney-Smith ($15.4MM) both hold player options for the 2025/26 season, but if they decline them in search of multiyear deals, they would be at the top of the mid-level market for frontcourt players, Fischer writes. In a follow-up Substack story, Fischer suggests the Bucks are well positioned to retain Portis, perhaps on a longer-term deal after he declines that option.
Re-signing free agent point guard Tre Jones is a viable possibility for the Bulls, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network. As Johnson notes, Billy Donovan and his coaching staff loved what Jones brought to the team in the second half last season, and Chicago’s trade of Lonzo Ball will remove one name from the team’s backcourt depth chart.
Bobby Marks of ESPN takes an in-depth look at where things stand for all 30 teams entering free agency.

Lakers Rumors: LeBron, Finney-Smith, Reaves, Luka, Centers

June 28th, 2025 at 4:09pm CST by Luke Adams

With one day until LeBron James must make a decision on his $52.6MM player option for the 2025/26 season, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin is hearing the same thing his colleague Shams Charania was a month ago: James is expected to exercise that option to play out the final year of his current contract.

James has considered retirement every offseason since 2023, according to McMenamin, but it sounds like he’s committed to playing a record-setting 23rd NBA season in ’25/26. A source familiar with LeBron’s thinking also tells ESPN that he’s not entering next season with “any certainty that it will be his last.”

The other Lakers forward with a player option decision to make, Dorian Finney-Smith, is interested in returning to Los Angeles, a source tells ESPN. However, it sounds like he’ll also have interest in adding multiple years to his current contract, either via opting in and extending or by opting out to sign a new contract. If the only way for him to stay with the Lakers is by picking up his option with no guarantee of an extension, he may test the open market, McMenamin explains.

As McMenamin writes, head coach J.J. Redick trusts Finney-Smith, who was popular in the Lakers’ locker room, so I’d expect the team to try to lock him up. But if he does walk, it would at least open up the $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception, giving L.A. more options to replace him in free agency, McMenamin notes. The club projects to just have the $5.7MM taxpayer mid-level exception available if James and Finney-Smith return on their option salaries.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

The Lakers understood that Austin Reaves would turn down the four-year, $89MM extension offer they put on the table for him, but the team didn’t want to send the wrong signal by not offering it, says McMenamin. According to his sources, the two sides remain motivated to work out a new deal next summer, when Reaves will have the ability to opt out of his current contract.
A source close to Luka Doncic tells ESPN that Mark Walter‘s agreement to buy a majority stake in the Lakers was viewed as a positive development from the star guard’s perspective. “You always want the wealthiest owners, so that speaks for itself,” the source said to McMenamin. “And his track record speaks for itself. … (Doncic) wants to win. This owner’s proven that he wants to win. So this is a plus-plus.”
McMenamin confirms a couple more Luka-related notes, citing sources who say the former Mavericks star remains motivated by how he was treated on his way out of Dallas, and committed to a training and nutrition program this offseason; and writing that Lakers assistant Greg St. Jean will be a part of the Slovenian national team’s coaching staff this summer as Doncic represents his home country in the EuroBasket tournament. The former was initially reported by Dan Woike of The Athletic, while the latter was first reported by Andrej Miljković of Ekipa24.
Addressing the Lakers’ hunt for a center, president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said during a Thursday night press conference that the team has been “super active” and will “turn over every stone” as it seeks a solution, tweets Woike. Nic Claxton of the Nets and Robert Williams of the Trail Blazers are among the possible trade targets the Lakers have “mulled internally” since last season, according to McMenamin, who also mentions several other previously reported names.

Las Vegas Summer League Schedule Set

June 27th, 2025 at 12:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

The NBA has announced the schedule for the annual Las Vegas Summer League, which will run from July 10-20. All 76 games will be televised either on one of ESPN’s platforms or on NBA TV, the league stated in a press release.

New Orleans and Minnesota will tip things off with a game starting at 2:30 p.m. CT July 10. The Pelicans have a pair of lottery picks in point guard Jeremiah Fears and big man Derik Queen, while the Timberwolves will feature French center Joan Beringer.

The main attraction in Las Vegas will be No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, who will make his debut when the Mavericks face the Lakers at 7 p.m. CT July 10. According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link), Flagg is expected to play in Dallas’ first two games, which will include a matchup with No. 2 selection Dylan Harper and the Spurs at 3 p.m. CT July 12.

“I want to put him at point guard,” coach Jason Kidd said. “… I’m excited to give him the ball against the Lakers and see what happens.”

All 30 teams will participate in the Las Vegas tournament, which has become the NBA’s premier summer showcase, both for on-court action and off-court meetings. Established players, agents and team executives gather in the city, and deals often get done during the event.

After each team plays four times, the top four will advance to the playoffs, while the others will be given one more game. ESPN will televise the semifinal doubleheader at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. CT July 19, along with the championship game at 9 p.m. CT July 20.

Lakers Adding Arthur Kaluma, Augustas Marciulionis Via E10 Deals

June 26th, 2025 at 11:25pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Lakers are set to audition several new players via Exhibit 10 training camp deals. After agreeing to an E10 contract with former five-year North Carolina guard RJ Davis, Los Angeles is also bringing in two additional undrafted free agents on similar agreements.

Former Texas forward Arthur Kaluma and ex-Saint Mary’s guard Augustas Marciulionis have agreed to Exhibit 10 deals with the Lakers, sources tell Dan Woike of The Athletic and Jonathan Givony of ESPN, respectively (Twitter links).

Kaluma, a 6’7″ wing, registered averages of 12.3 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 1.8 APG during his final NCAA season, with a shooting line of .462/.359/.784. Prior to his Longhorns stint, Kaluma also suited up for Creighton and Texas State.

A two-time WCC Player of the Year, the 6’4″ Marciulionis averaged 14.2 PPG, 5.9 APG, and 4.1 APG in 35 outings last season. He posted shooting splits of .446/.347/.793. Marciulionis missed pre-draft workouts while recuperating from a foot injury, but is expected to be healthy next month, Givony notes.

Exhibit 10 agreements are non-guaranteed, but can be converted into two-way deals if players impress their clubs. Should Kaluma or Marciulionis be waived and spend up to 60 days on the Lakers’ G League affiliate in El Segundo, the South Bay Lakers, they could earn bonuses worth up to $85K.

RJ Davis Agrees To Exhibit 10 Deal With Lakers

June 26th, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

RJ Davis, a five-year player and four-year starter for North Carolina, has agreed to a contract with the Lakers, Billy Reinhardt tweets. It’s an Exhibit 10 contract, according to Adam Zagoria (Twitter link).

The six-foot guard appeared in 175 NCAA games, including 155 starts. In his final year with the Tar Heels, he averaged 17.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He averaged 21.2 PPG in 2023/24.

For his college career, Davis made 41.8 percent of his field goal attempts, including 36.7 percent of his three-point tries.

Exhibit 10 contracts are non-guaranteed but include bonuses of up to $85K if the player is waived and then spends at least 60 days with his team’s G League affiliate. In Davis’ case, that G League team would be the South Bay Lakers. Exhibit 10 contracts can also be converted into two-way deals, so Davis will try to make his case for a promotion during Summer League and training camp.

Lakers To Sign Eric Dixon To Two-Way Deal

June 26th, 2025 at 9:38pm CST by Rory Maher

The Lakers are signing former Villanova forward Eric Dixon to a two-way contract, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Dixon was the top player on ESPN’s big board who went undrafted tonight, coming in at No. 44 overall. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic was a little lower on the fifth-year senior, ranking him No. 67 on his on board.

The 6’8″ lefty led all Division I players in scoring in 2024/25, putting up 23.3 points per game on .451/.407/.813 shooting splits in 35 appearances for the Wildcats (34.8 MPG). He also chipped in 5.1 rebounds per contest en route to third-team All-America honors.

Dixon, 24, weighs about 260 lbs. and will likely have to play some center at the NBA level due to his lack of foot speed. While he was a prolific outside shooter and scorer in college, talent evaluators view his defense as his biggest question mark as he turns pro.

The Lakers are carrying over center Trey Jemison on a two-way deal, but Christian Koloko is a free agent and the team finished the season with a two-way opening, so no one will have to be cut to make room for Dixon when he’s eligible to sign in July.