Lakers offensive issues boil down to roster of “free agents and player options”

Before the Lakers’ 2025-26 season started, Rob Pelinka, the franchise’s president of basketball operations and general manager, spoke about how the team’s “optionality” could benefit the team not just in the long-term, but also the short-term.

But after Thursday night’s loss to the Clippers, multiple people from the team addressed a potential disadvantage of having several players who are either signed to contracts that either expire after this season or have options for next year. 

Lakers coach JJ Redick was critical of the team’s passing and ball movement in the first half against the Clippers, a factor that led to his team trailing 64-47 at halftime, and 77-51 midway through the third, before a late comeback attempt fell short despite cutting their deficit to two. 

Redick emphasized that when the Lakers, one of the less-frequent passing teams in the league, don’t play well, they often don’t move the ball like they should and don’t execute offensively. 

“There’s got to be a trust factor with all our guys just to trust the pass,” Redick said. “And that starts with Luka [Doncic]. He’s going to have the ball the most [out] of everyone. He’s got to trust the pass when he gets two on him. [When] he’s playing in a crowd, he’s got to pass the ball. 

“As much as we can talk about being connected on defense, you got to be connected on offense.”

Trust was a common talking point after Tuesday’s win over the Nuggets in Denver and before Thursday’s loss to the Clippers, with Redick acknowledging Thursday night that trust can generally be a swing factor on a team filled with players with uncertain futures.

Eight of the Lakers’ 14 players signed to standard NBA contracts either are slated to become unrestricted free agents in the summer (LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, Gabe Vincent and Maxi Kleber) or have player options (Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart) for the 2026-27 season.  

“It just goes back to the human element of everything,” Redick said. “And guys are worried about their futures. And that’s what happens when you got a team full of free agents and player options.

“It’s just natural that you’re gonna worry about the offense and it’s… and I’ve been there. [You] get in your head a little bit. ‘Played five minutes, haven’t got a shot yet.’ And that’s a human thing. It’s not anybody’s fault.”

Smart, a 12-year NBA veteran who signed a two-year, $10.5 million contract with a $5.4 million player option for next season, acknowldged the “tough” situation many Lakers players are facing.

“You got guys fighting for contracts, fighting to stay on the team and you got other guys who are secure, got theirs and kind of understand where they are,” he said. “It is a little tough and it does make things a little bit harder.

“But at the same time, we’re all professionals and we got to come out and do our jobs no matter what. [The] human element does come into play sometimes and you just got to be able to snap out of it quicker than what we are doing.”

Hachimura, who’s on an expiring contract he signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2023, echoed Smart. 

“For sure, that affects us,” Hachimura said. “Especially this year, we have a lot of guys like that, including myself. I’ve been here for four seasons now and this is every year. Almost the same, but it’s different, a little different. A little different this year because, these guys, a lot of guys [are] new, and they basically [are on] one-year contracts and they have to survive too. So I get it, I understand that.

“But we [talked] before the season: winning is gonna help. So we gotta focus on that.”