The Lakers officially waived Shake Milton on Sunday, opening up a roster spot for the expected signing of Marcus Smart, but another move will need to be made before Smart can officially join the franchise.
Smart is slated to sign a two-year, $10.5 million deal with the Lakers ($5.4 million player option for 2026-27) after he clears waivers following his contract buyout with the Washington Wizards, a source confirmed to the Southern California News Group on Saturday. The Lakers are expected to use all of their $5.1 million bi-annual exception on Smart’s salary for the 2025-26 season, a source told the SCNG.
The team needed to make multiple roster changes to have access to the full exception salary in addition to opening a roster spot for Smart, which was a reason why Milton was waived.
Milton, the 28-year-old guard who has been in the NBA for seven seasons, had a $3 million salary for 2025-26 that would’ve become fully guaranteed if he is on the roster past Sunday. Before waiving Milton, the Lakers had 15 players signed to standard deals, which is the most teams are allowed to have on their active roster during the season.
Smart’s contract buyout agreement with the Wizards also became official on Sunday afternoon, with the 2021-22 Defensive Player of the Year likely clearing waivers on Wednesday afternoon, when he’ll officially become an unrestricted free agent and be able to sign with the Lakers.
The Lakers will still need to shed at least $1.23 million in salary to sign Smart while staying under the $195.9 million first apron threshold, which they are hard-capped at.
Jordan Goodwin’s $2.3 million salary for 2025-26 is partially guaranteed: $25,006 of his salary became guaranteed when the team picked up his team option in late June. The remainder of his salary doesn’t become fully guaranteed until Jan. 10, 2026.
Waiving Goodwin, 26, would provide the Lakers with the financial flexibility under the first apron threshold to sign Smart to the $5.1 million salary for 2025-26 he agreed to terms on. But in this scenario, the Lakers wouldn’t have enough space under the first apron threshold to sign a player with their 15th roster spot to start the season without making another move.
The Lakers could also create the financial flexibility to sign Smart without waiving Goodwin by making a consolidation trade in which they send out at least $1.23 million more in player salary than they receive.
Goodwin, who originally joined the team in February on a two-way contract before signing a standard deal in March, was in the Lakers’ rotation off the bench in the second half of last season, impressing with his hustle, defense and improved 3-point shooting.
