Lakers Roster, Salaries, Cap Space, Available Draft Picks and More

In the modern era of the NBA, teams and fans have become far more intelligent when it comes to team-building, rosters and salaries and the CBA.

To that point, we’ve partnered with SalarySwish to use their data to provide information and answers for every question you may have about the Lakers’ financial situation.

Listed below is our constantly updating, living article that will provide answers to questions you may have. It will update with team moves, from trades to signings and anything in-between. So bookmark the page to stay up to date on the latest changes as the team moves forward!

Lakers Roster, Salaries, Draft Picks, Cap Space and More

Here is a table with all of the Lakers’ salary information, courtesy of our friends at SalarySwish:

Because that is a lot of data, let’s dive into a few key pieces of context, what it means and answer any questions may all lead to.

FAQ

Here are some answers to some of your most frequently asked questions about the Lakers’ salary cap and draft pick situations moving forward.

How close are the Lakers to the aprons? Are they hard-capped?

The Lakers are hard-capped at the first apron after acquiring Walker Kessler via sign-and-trade this offseason. That means their payroll cannot exceed $209,015,000 until the start of the 2027-28 league year on June 30, 2027.

For now, that shouldn’t be much of an issue for the Lakers. They’re currently more than $8.1 million below the first apron with 16 players on standard contracts.

If the Lakers swing a sign-and-trade for Jonathan Kuminga using Jarred Vanderbilt’s contract, that could push them much closer to the first apron. They’re allowed to take back roughly $9.1 million more in salary than they send out in a trade using Vanderbilt’s contract, although they’d go over the first apron if they took back that full amount. That means they’d have to dump salary elsewhere first.

Long story short: Just because the Lakers have plenty of breathing room under the first apron for now doesn’t mean that they will for the entirety of the 2026-27 campaign. If they take advantage of their trade flexibility, they could bring themselves much closer to their hard cap.

How much will the Lakers pay in luxury taxes this year?

As of now, the Lakers are $469,322 over the tax line. Since they’ve paid the tax in each of the past six seasons, they’re subject to the dreaded repeater tax, which comes with far stiffer tax rates.

For the first $6.1 million that they go over the tax, they’d owe $3 in tax for every dollar that they’re over. As a result, they’re currently projected to owe $1,407,966 in tax this year.

To escape from the repeater tax, the Lakers would need to stay under the tax line in each of the next two seasons. They’d still be subject to the repeater tax rates in both 2026-27 and 2027-28 — although that would be a non-issue for them if they’re below the tax both seasons — but they would reset the clock on the repeater tax starting in 2028-29 if they do stay out of the tax in each of the next two years.

Given how close they are to the tax line and how beneficial it would be to them to get out of the repeater tax, don’t be surprised if the Lakers do try to duck the tax both this year and next.

How much is Luka Dončić making and how long is he under contract?

Dončić is set to earn $49.5 million in the 2026-27 season. He’s under a guaranteed contract in 2027-28 for $53.4 million, and he has a $57.4 million player option in 2028-29 that he figures to decline for a longer deal.

When Dončić signed his extension in August 2025, he chose the option that could help maximize his earnings. He was ineligible to receive a 35% max contract once the Dallas Mavericks traded him to the Lakers—thanks again, Nico Harrison!—so he had to wait until he had 10 years of NBA service to qualify for that starting salary.

And wouldn’t you know it? Dončić conveniently has a player option in 2028-29, which is exactly when he’ll have 10 years of NBA service.

Now, that doesn’t mean Dončić will leave the Lakers in 2028. They can offer him an extension beginning at 35% of the 2028-29 salary cap as soon as Aug. 2, 2027. It’s still far too early to know where the cap will land that year, but based on the current projection of $182.7 million, Dončić would be eligible for a four-year, $286.5 million max extension.

If Dončić instead chooses to become a free agent in 2028, the Lakers could offer him a five-year, $370.9 million max deal with 8% annual raises, while other teams could offer him no more than a four-year, $275 million max deal with 5% annual raises. In other words, the Lakers will have a clear financial advantage over any other Dončić suitors.

What draft picks can the Lakers trade?

After trading two first-round picks and two first-round swaps in the sign-and-trade for Kessler, the Lakers are extremely limited when it comes to tradable draft picks.

Thanks to the Stepien Rule, which prohibits teams from being without first-round picks in back-to-back years, the Lakers do not have a single tradable first-round pick at the moment. They owe their top-four-protected 2027 first-rounder to Memphis, their 2029 pick to Dallas and their 2031 and 2033 picks to Utah. However, they can trade the following swaps:

• 2028 swap (less favorable of their own pick and more favorable of Jazz/Cavaliers pick)

• 2030 swap (less favorable of their own pick and Jazz pick)

The Lakers have also burned through most of their tradable second-round picks in various transactions in recent years. They did acquire two second-rounders from the Washington Wizards for Deandre Ayton, but other than that, they only control one of their own second-round picks from now through 2033.

In recent years, the going rate for even a half-decent rotation player at the trade deadline tends to be two or three second-round picks. The Lakers might be able to pull a deal off by exchanging their 2032 swap instead, but they’ll otherwise have their work cut out for them if they hope to sweeten a trade offer with draft capital. (That is, of course, until they extort the Sixers into giving up a second-round pick to reunite Bronny James with his dad.)

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