The Lakers made a huge splash going for Marcus Smart to improve their defense, a weakness from last season. The Purple and Gold had to make minor shifts in order to sign Smart. They waived a few players to create space and use their exception on the seasoned guard. But that facility is only available to teams once. Going into next offseason, the Lakers can’t use it again. But no worry, there seems to be a bigger plan in position for next year.

We’ve all heard the rumors. LeBron James is skeptical about the Lakers’ championship hopes. His movement is almost inevitable at this point. But the Lakers can do so much more which could eventually land them another star next to Luka Doncic.

“I’m obviously talking about LeBron here, especially for anybody who’s not watching, but I mean like you could really realistically there’s a world where LeBron, Rui, Vincent, Kleber all come off the books. They could probably do a handshake deal with Ayton where hey, opt out. We’ll renounce you. We’ll resign you with the room exception for basically the same money you opted out of. Um and then that’s how they get to a whole ton of cap space,” Keith Smith explained on the NBA Front Office podcast.

All of the above-mentioned players are on expiring contracts, allowing the Lakers to do nothing and gain a lot. The cumulative amount opens up at least $90 million for the Purple and Gold. It’s the exact flexibility Rob Pelinka needs to build around Luka Doncic. If the Slovenian does commit his future to the Lakers in August, they could start their rebuild as soon as the next offseason. It’s a wonderful conclusion for the Lakers.

The franchise has been looking to move on from James since Doncic’s arrival. Yes, he will leave without giving anything in return to the Lakers. However, $90 million is an ample amount to lure a superstar to LA. Additionally, Smith feels the Lakers can make other moves, such as trading Dalton Knecht to increase their cap space.

Given it’s their first rodeo outside of LeBron James, the Lakers couldn’t have asked for a better situation. Sticking to the James, though, there is one thing that had Laker Nation furious.

Bronny James remains a priority for the Lakers

To shake hands with Marcus Smart meant cutting ties with a few players. The first domino fell with Shake Milton. However, his dismissal didn’t sting. The same isn’t true for Jordan Goodwin. The former two-way player fought his way up JJ Redick’s system. His energy and defensive awareness helped the Lakers tremendously.

There was an obvious upside to keeping him. Still, the Lakers chose to waive him rather than Bronny James, a player who barely cracked the senior team. Keith Smith and Trevor Lane both have heard these complaints a lot. But the thing is, the Lakers couldn’t achieve their objective had they waived their second-round pick.

“I was going to say I’ve had so many SMH they should have waved Bronny comments and and I’ve had to explain the whole Goodwin was the only player left on their books that had non-G guaranteed money that they would actually free up any space,” Lane revealed on the podcast. The same was true for Gabe Vincent. But a fully guaranteed contract would mean the Lakers would still have to pay his $11 million salary even if they waive him.

Hence, the options were thin. The Lakers’ top brass didn’t want to do it. “They really like Jordan Goodwin. They were really excited with him,” Lane added. The analyst does view Smart as an upgrade because Goodwin isn’t a young guy by NBA standards. Moreover, he also thinks the Lakers will actively try to find a way to bring him back. But there are teams who are also interested in Goodwin’s talent.

How do you rate the Lakers’ offseason moves? Let us know your views in the comments below.