Lakers over the roster limit; Ranking options to become compliant per NBA rules

With the Lakers opening training camp in a week, storylines from the last few months will be brought back to the forefront of conversations. How will superstar guard Luka Doncic lead the franchise after it decided to fully entrench itself in an era guided by him?Will the Lakers’ offseason roster reconstruction – which included the departure of LeBron James after eight seasons in Los Angeles and addition of nine players over the last three months – provide the desired results?Will Walker Kessler live up to the investment the Lakers made to acquire him? Will Austin Reaves be ready to be the true No.2 behind Doncic? The answers to some of these questions won’t be known until the end of the 2026-27 season.

Others may take even longer to answer.But the next month will provide clarity on one front: What will the Lakers do to become compliant with the league’s roster rules?When the Lakers signed Matisse Thybulle to a veteran’s minimum contract (one year, $3.3 million) in late July, to deal put the team at 16 players signed to guaranteed standard NBA contracts – one more than the league permits during the regular season. Since the signing, there’s been a focus on what route the Lakers will choose to trim its roster down to a maximum of 15 players before the regular season starts in mid-October. And with training camp around the corner, and the start of the season four weeks away, the decision will be back at the forefront of conversations. Which route would best serve the Lakers?If this option was available for the Lakers, the belief is they would’ve already pulled the trigger on the move by now. With Jaden Hardy, Dalton Knecht and Jarred Vanderbilt being the players who are most likely expected to be traded or waived, the question becomes whether any team would be willing to send out a draft pick to acquire any of them.It’s clear that isn’t the case.Remember: The Lakers received a pair of second-round picks from the Wizards when they traded De...