Zach LaVine or Jonathan Kuminga: Can the Lakers Actually Afford Either for 2026-27?

What the Lakers' 2026-27 core already looks like

Before any LaVine talk gets serious, it helps to remember the Lakers already have a shape for next season. Roster projections point to Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves as the two building blocks, flanked by Quentin Grimes on the wing and a rim-protecting big — either Walker Kessler or Sandro Mamukelashvili, depending on which version of the frontcourt L.A. leans into. That's the four-man skeleton the front office is reportedly working around.

So where does Zach LaVine fit into that picture? Not as a new centerpiece — as a scoring accelerant. LaVine's game has always been about getting buckets in bunches off the dribble or off movement, which is exactly the kind of shot creation a Dončić-Reaves backcourt doesn't always need to generate for itself but could absolutely use as a third option late in games or when one of the two stars sits.

Why LaVine still looks like a real answer — and why Sacramento isn't opening the door

LaVine remains one of the more efficient bucket-getters available on the trade market. His career scoring average sits right around 21 points per game, and even in a transition year in Sacramento he was still producing at a near-20-point clip. That's the kind of instant offense that doesn't require a system to be built around it — it just plugs in.

Here's the twist: the Kings aren't shopping him, and they're reportedly not considering a buyout that would let him walk for nothing. A league source told The Sacramento Bee that Sacramento expects LaVine to stay, compete, and play out his contract. In other words, if the Lakers want him, there's no easy exit ramp — it has to come through a real trade, with real value going back to Sacramento, not a discount pickup off a buyout market.

That distinction matters. A team hoping to add LaVine on the cheap after a Kings buyout would be operating on a fantasy that isn't supported by anything Sacramento has said publicly. Any Lakers pursuit has to be priced as a full trade, which changes the entire cost-benefit conversation.

The $49 million question: what does LaVine actually cost the Lakers?

LaVine is set to make roughly $48.97 million in 2026-27 if he exercises his player option — a number that's essentially rounded to $49 million and represents a max-level, 30% salary slot under next season's cap. For context, the 2026-27 salary cap projects at $164.96 million, with the luxury tax line at $200.4 million and the first tax apron at $209 million.

Notice the gap: the Lakers' realistic cap room projects at about $48.4 million, just shy of what LaVine's salary would require in a straight cap-space signing. That means Los Angeles almost certainly can't just sign him outright — it would need to construct a trade, sending out matching salary from players like Grimes, Vanderbilt, or LaRavia, while staying mindful of apron restrictions that limit roster flexibility for the rest of the season.

That's the hidden cost of LaVine: it's not just the number on his contract, it's the depth pieces and trade exceptions the Lakers would have to surrender just to make the math work under the cap rules.

Kuminga vs. LaVine: which fits the Lakers' actual timeline?

The Lakers haven't stopped monitoring Jonathan Kuminga, even if talks have stalled for weeks. Reports peg the Lakers' offer at roughly two years and $20 million — far below what Kuminga is seeking — and Los Angeles has reportedly been reluctant to attach meaningful draft capital to a sign-and-trade, which has kept the two sides at a standstill.

But the fit question favors Kuminga on paper. He's 23, still on a rookie-scale value tier compared to LaVine's max-level number, and brings the kind of two-way athleticism and defensive versatility that a Dončić-Reaves-led roster is missing more than it's missing another high-usage scorer. LaVine, now entering his ninth season with more mileage on his knees, is a known commodity as a bucket-getter but doesn't move the needle defensively — and the Lakers already have plenty of perimeter shot creation between Dončić and Reaves.

In short, Kuminga addresses a hole; LaVine addresses a strength that's already covered. That overlap is exactly why pairing LaVine with Reaves and Dončić raises the same question every top-heavy roster eventually faces: who's taking the shots in the fourth quarter, and who's guarding the other team's best perimeter player?

So should the Lakers actually chase LaVine?

The honest answer is: only if the price stays reasonable. LaVine's scoring — that steady ~21-point average — is real, and there's no denying a healthy version of him raises the Lakers' offensive ceiling almost overnight. If Los Angeles can find a trade package that doesn't gut its remaining depth or push it into the tax apron, adding him as a scoring insurance policy behind Dončić and Reaves makes sense.

But if landing LaVine means giving up multiple rotation pieces and cap flexibility just to absorb a near-$49 million salary for a role the roster arguably doesn't need filled, that's a bad trade dressed up as a good one. Kuminga, even amid stalled talks, still represents the cheaper, younger, more complementary bet for a team trying to build around Dončić for the long haul.

Either way, the Lakers' front office has a decision that will define how this roster looks — and the clock on Kuminga's free agency isn't going to wait forever for them to make it.