Before the Lakers’ 2025-26 season began, Rob Pelinka, the franchise’s president of basketball operations and general manager, spoke about how the team’s “optional” option could benefit the team not only in the long term, but also in the short term.
But after Thursday night’s loss to the Clippers, several people on the team addressed the potential downside of having multiple players with 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 league’s lower passing teams, don’t play well, they often don’t move the ball as they should and don’t act offensively.
“There has to be a trust factor with all of our guys to be able to trust the pass,” Redick said. “And that starts with Luka [Doncic]. He will have the ball most of the time [out] from everyone. He has to rely on the pass when he gets two. [When] he plays in a crowd, he has to pass the ball.
“As much as we can talk about being connected on defense, you also have to be connected on offense.”
Confidence was a common topic of conversation after Tuesday’s win over the Nuggets in Denver and before Thursday’s loss to the Clippers, with Redick acknowledging Thursday night that confidence in general can be a swing factor for a team full of players with uncertain futures.
Eight of the Lakers’ 14 players signed to standard NBA contracts will 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 2026-2027 season.
“It just goes back to the human element of everything,” Redick said. “And guys are worried about their future. And that’s what happens when you have a team full of free agents and player options.
“It’s normal to start worrying about the foul and it’s… and I’ve been there. [You] a bit in your head. ‘Played for five minutes, didn’t have a chance yet.’ And that is a human thing. It’s no one’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, acknowledged the “difficult” situation many Lakers players face.
“You have guys fighting for contracts, fighting to stay on the team and you have other guys who are safe, have theirs and kind of understand where they are,” he said. “It’s a bit tough and it makes things a bit more difficult.
“But at the same time we are all professionals and we have to do our job no matter what. [The] The human element sometimes comes into play and you just have to be able to figure it out faster than what we do.
Hachimura, who is on an expiring contract that he signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2023, echoed Smart.
“That definitely 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 actually [are on] one-year contracts and they too have to survive. So I get it, I understand that.
“But us [talked] before the season: winning will help. So we have to focus on that.”
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