How Lakers Salary-Cap Flexibility Could Help Retain Williams and Thybulle
The Los Angeles Lakers have structured their books to make another big splash next offseason and potentially retain inexpensive players. This planning is supported by newly updated NBA salary-cap projections for the 2027-28 season, which provide added roster flexibility across the league.
Cap Projections Rise for the 2027-28 Season
Alongside this adjustment, the luxury-tax line and accompanying aprons will also increase by roughly $2 million. This shift expands financial wiggle room for all franchises. For the Lakers, this adjustment arrives as the front office manages books targeted at making another major transaction during the offseason.
Austin Reaves created future flexibility this summer by accepting $5 million less than a maximum contract. Rather than taking the full 8% raise he was eligible to receive, Reaves accepted roughly a 4% raise for the 2027-28 campaign. The Lakers also utilized unique structuring for Sandro Mamukelashvili’s contract.
Preserving Exceptions for Role Players
Past seasons saw the Lakers develop inexpensive contributors like Malik Monk and Dennis Schröder into successful rotation players, but the franchise lacked the financial mechanisms to retain them. Next summer may offer a different outcome for current one-year signees Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle. Because both players signed one-year contracts, the Lakers will hold only non-Bird rights on them next offseason. Without utilizing a separate salary-cap exception, the team cannot offer them more than 120% of a minimum contract or their previous salary.
If Williams or Thybulle experience breakout campaigns, the Lakers could deploy the non-taxpayer mid-level exception (MLE) to re-sign them. Alternatively, the bi-annual exception is projected to land at approximately $5.85 million, an amount that could suffice to retain one of the two players while preserving the MLE for external targets.
Lakers Face Hard-Cap Constraints Under First Apron
Utilizing either the non-taxpayer MLE or the bi-annual exception will hard-cap the Lakers at the first apron, which is projected at roughly $222 million. Maintaining access to these exceptions requires leaving at least $22 million of breathing room under the first apron. Guaranteed salaries for Jarred Vanderbilt and Collin Sexton, should they pick up their respective player options for 2027-28, would bring the team total to $181.6 million.
Exercising team options for Dalton Knecht at $6.45 million, Jaden Hardy at $6.0 million, Bronny James at $2.5 million, and Adou Thiero at $2.5 million would elevate the guaranteed figure to $199.1 million across 12 players under contract. Under these projections, the franchise would retain sufficient space below the first apron to deploy both exceptions. The organization faces distinct deadlines for these decisions, needing to act on Knecht’s option by the end of October while holding until June 29 for Hardy, James, and Thiero.