Next summer could see several teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, have significant cap space. Unfortunately for those teams and the Lakers, the list of available free agents for the summer of 2026 is underwhelming at best.
The 2026 free agent class is going to be underwhelming too, sorry.https://t.co/jc5x5oMm1y
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) August 24, 2025
The reason being that most top free agents are agreeing to contract extensions before hitting free agency. That includes De’Aaron Fox of the San Antonio Spurs and even Luka Doncic.
That leaves Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young as the top free agent next summer. That assumes that he doesn’t sign an extension before then. Even if he doesn’t, his fit next to Doncic leaves a lot to be desired and could scare the Lakers from pursuing him.
That means the Lakers could have up to $96 million in cap space and no star to pursue, forcing them to get creative next summer.
How will the Los Angeles Lakers use their max cap space?
Without a clear-cut free agent to target, the Lakers will have to get creative. Fortunately, they have Rob Pelinka, who turned water into wine by trading Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round pick for Doncic.
Imagine what he could do with that much cap space. That could include them making a run at Giannis Antetokounmpo, offering any asset that isn’t tied down to convince Giannis to play in L.A.
The Bucks will need more convincing. But the Lakers could absorb Giannis’ contract and maybe another bad Bucks contract to help Milwaukee get a jumpstart on their rebuild.
That’s only if Giannis makes clear that he wants to play with the Lakers. Or, they can make smaller moves by leveraging their cap space to pick up additional assets that include first-round picks that they can use in a bigger deal down the road.
Either way, it seems clear that the Lakers won’t be able to simply sign top free agents considering many of them already signed extensions. Instead, they will have to figure out other ways to build around Doncic.
All in all, the Lakers could have up to $96 million in cap space and no star to chase in 2026 free agency. However, that space will give them plenty of maneuverability to build around Doncic in clever ways, putting that money to great use.
