After not having a pick in the first round of the NBA draft on Wednesday night, the Lakers will move up 10 spots in the second round on Thursday.
The Lakers are trading the No. 55 pick and cash to the Chicago Bulls for the No. 45 pick.
The transaction, which was first reported by ESPN, will hard-cap the Lakers at the second apron for 2025-26 because they used cash in a trade, meaning they won’t be allowed to exceed $207.8 million in player salary for next season.
Moving up in the draft will give the Lakers more options to add a young player to their roster.
The Lakers weren’t expected to exceed the second apron, which is especially punitive for roster building.
Although they have just eight players signed to guaranteed deals for 2025-26, with those salaries combining for around $118.1 million, the Lakers will likely operate as a luxury-tax team, if not a first-apron team, once decisions on player and team options are made.
LeBron James ($52.6 million) and Dorian Finney-Smith ($15.4 million) have player options for the 2025-26 season with deadlines of June 29. Jordan Goodwin also has a $2.3 million team option with a deadline of next week.
If all three of James, Finney-Smith and Goodwin return to the team as expected on similar salaries as their options, the Lakers will likely eclipse the luxury-tax threshold of $187.9 million – but also be under the first apron threshold of $195.9 million – and have just 11 players signed – three fewer than the league-mandated minimum.
More to come on this story.
