2023 Lakers Free Agency Rumors Tracker and Discussion Thread

The Lakers are sure to be active in NBA free agency once again, so we’ll be tracking every single player they are connected to here.

The 2023 NBA free agency moratorium, when teams can begin negotiating with players, officially opens on Friday, June 30 at 3 p.m. PT. But while that date marks the official beginning of free agency, rumors have long since started to trickle out (although, obviously, no teams in the NBA have tampered, of course). And, as is the case every year, the Lakers are in the middle of a ton of said whispers.

In keeping with a yearly tradition at this blog, we will be keeping an updating list of every player the Lakers have been connected to during and ahead of free agency, with this story being refreshed with as many reputable reports as possible in real-time.

So for those of you that don’t scroll Twitter endlessly — and even for those that do — bookmark this page to stay informed on all the latest scuttlebutt about who the Lakers will sign, who they won’t, and every bit of information in between.

Available players connected to the Lakers

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

Bruce Brown

• Anthony Irwin of Substack and Mike Singer of The Denver Post both reported on Wednesday, June 28 that the Lakers have real interest in Nuggets wing Bruce Brown.
• The next morning, Jovan Buha of The Athletic added that the team is “increasingly confident” they can sign him. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype added that Brown is “a primary target” for Los Angeles.
• Marc Stein, also of Substack, wrote that other teams expect Brown to get offered more than the mid-level exception that the Lakers can give him, however.

Brook Lopez

• Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported the day before free agency that Lopez would be a target for the Lakers with their mid-level exception.

Eric Gordon

• Both NBA insider Marc Stein and Kelly Iko of The Athletic report that the Lakers are interested in Eric Gordon, who was cut by the Clippers on June 28 before his $21 million salary became guaranteed for next season.

Jevon Carter, Shake Milton and Cory Joseph

• These three guards all have to share one section for now, because they have only been linked to the Lakers by one report from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who wrote that all three players are potential backup options for the Lakers if they can’t keep Dennis Schröder.

Lakers own free agents

Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images

Austin Reaves

• The Lakers have leaked time and time again that they will match any offer sheet another team gives Austin Reaves.
• The latest word from NBA insider Marc Stein is that even a maximum Reaves offer sheet of approximately $100 million would be an “automatic match” for the purple and gold.
• Kelly Iko of The Athletic previously reported that the Houston Rockets would be a suitor for Reaves, but it’s unknown if their likely signings of Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet will rule them out of such a chase.
• The Lakers took the first step towards keeping Reaves by tendering him a qualifying offer and making him a restricted free agent.

Rui Hachimura

• Like with Reaves, the Lakers have given every indication that they plan to match any offer sheet on Rui Hachimura, with Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN going so far as to say he doesn’t “see any scenario where the Lakers would not match on both.”
• As they did with Reaves, the Lakers tendered Hachimura a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent.

D’Angelo Russell

• Jovan Buha of The Athletic reports that “all indications, both publicly and privately, point to the organization planning to re-sign... unrestricted free agent D’Angelo Russell.”
• However, earlier in the offseason, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported that the Lakers were “exploring” sign-and-trade options with Russell, with Buha adding that such a scenario was the Lakers’ “preference” back in May.
• Dave McMenamin of ESPN — and common sense — reported on May 26 that the Lakers would not offer Russell a maximum contract extension after the team had previously tabled extension talks until the playoffs were over.

Dennis Schröder

• Jovan Buha of The Athletic reported that the Lakers want to keep Dennis Schröder, even though they lack his full Bird Rights (which would limit them to either full or parts of their mid-level, or their veteran’s minimum exceptions to retain him).

Lonnie Walker IV

• Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports wrote after the postseason that Lonnie Walker IV will be looking for a “payday following a breakout playoffs.”
• Jovan Buha of The Athletic reported that like with Schröder, “the Lakers are also expected to try to retain” Walker despite lacking his Bird Rights.

Jarred Vanderbilt

• Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported that the Lakers are expected to exercise their $4.7 million team option to keep Jarred Vanderbilt on the roster.
• That scoop was a confirmation of a previous report from Jovan Buha of The Athletic, who wrote in April that the team planned to do so and that Vanderbilt wants to “put down roots in Los Angeles as part of what he deems a ‘high-caliber organization.’”

Mo Bamba and Malik Beasley

• The Lakers waived the nonguaranteed contracts of both Bamba and Beasley on the Thursday ahead of free agency, but according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the team will consider bringing both players back at lower salaries depending on how free agency shakes out.
• Cap expert Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report broke down how that would be possible:

Bookmark this page to stay updated on the latest throughout NBA free agency. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.