If the Los Angeles Lakers want to get some kind of upgrade on the trade market — and that doesn’t necessarily mean trading someone like Giannis Antetokounmpo — they’ll likely have to give up some kind of draft capital to get the deal done.
Currently, under NBA rules, the only future first-round pick they can offer in a trade is a 2031 or 2032 pick. Once the new league year begins this summer, they will be able to offer first-round players in 2031 and 2033, as well as players they will select in the first round of the 2026 draft.
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There was a time when the Lakers’ future first-round pick was considered to have a lot of value on the open market across the league because of the uncertainty of how much success they would be able to achieve in the coming years. But the arrival of Luka Doncic, along with the sale of a majority of the franchise to Mark Walter, changed that, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic.
“According to league sources, the value of the Lakers’ future draft picks, likely in 2031 or 2032, is less than it was before the Luka Doncic trade and since Mark Walter purchased the team,” Woick wrote. “There’s a belief that now that Walter has proven to be an effective owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, he and whoever he entrusts the team with will at least prevent the franchise from going into free fall and really make future first-round picks less of a lottery.”
At least, it seems that Doncic will not leave the Lakers the next time he has the option to opt out of his contract (that is, in 2028). Therefore, it seems likely that they will be at least a finalist, if not a playoff team, in the next few years.
Los Angeles lacks tradeable assets beyond a future first-round pick, unless it decides to bring arguably superstar-caliber Austin Reeves into trade discussions. Reeves is expected to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer, although many expect him to stay.
Forward Rui Hachimura has performed well so far this season and could be considered mid-range value, but he is in the final year of his contract. The team’s other expiring contracts — guard Gabe Vincent and big man Maxi Kleber — are fringe players who may not break into many other teams’ rotations.
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This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Report: Lakers’ future first-round pick has become less valuable
