Lakers Ownership Drama Impacts Roster Plans
The Los Angeles Lakers have spent the summer in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Not for a blockbuster trade. Not for a title parade. For ownership drama and uncertainty at the exact moment the franchise is trying to convince the league it can still build a contender around Luka Doncic.
At a time when stability should be their greatest selling point, the ground under the organization keeps shifting.
Ownership Firestorm Shadows Roster Plans
As Lakers insider Khobi Price detailed, the turbulence started at the very top. Mark Walter sold the team for a staggering $12.5 billion to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, a deal completed while Walter faced a federal investigation into his financials. Soon after, the Buss family attempted to sell their remaining stake in the franchise.
That’s not a quiet reshuffle. That’s an earthquake.
The fallout has been felt across the league. Even Klay Thompson — whose father, Mychal, is a Lakers legend and openly pushed for his son to choose Los Angeles — turned his back on the franchise and headed to Miami instead. When a player with that kind of family connection walks away, people around the league notice.
So do other stars. And so does Doncic, who is entering a crucial phase of his Lakers tenure while the franchise scrambles to prove it can still surround him with a championship-caliber cast.
The Power Forward Problem
The basketball problem is straightforward: the Lakers need a starting power forward who can slot next to Doncic and hold up against elite playoff competition. The market problem is anything but.
The front office has been linked to a long list of forwards this offseason: P.J. Washington, Derrick Jones Jr., Saddiq Bey, De’Andre Hunter among them. Names that fit different needs — switchable defense, spacing, length, energy — but all with price tags and complications attached.
Will any of them actually become gettable? And even if they do, will the Lakers be willing or able to pay the cost?
Lakers insider Jovan Buha offered a blunt read on where things stand. In his view, the team is drifting away from the very targets who might best solve the starting forward issue.
He framed the question the way top teams do: when you face the best in the league, can that player start, hold his own, and do what you need for 24–28 minutes a night? For Buha, the answer is clearer with players like P.J. Washington and Derrick Jones Jr. than with options such as De’Andre Hunter, Kyle Kuzma, or Grant Williams at that kind of workload.
His preference is obvious: go get Washington, go get Jones. The reality, he suggested, is very different. With ownership in flux and that uncertainty hanging over big decisions, the Lakers don’t look like a team ready to push hard for those moves. Instead, he expects them to roll forward with largely the same group, perhaps trimming around the edges with a waiver, a two-for-one deal, or a minor salary dump.
Not the kind of language that screams “all-in” around a generational superstar.
Trapped Between the Apron and a Hard Place
The financial picture only tightens the squeeze. The Lakers sit close to the apron, limiting their flexibility and forcing tough choices on any incoming salary. To add a meaningful starter, they almost certainly need to send out a larger contract.
Jarred Vanderbilt’s name naturally comes up in that conversation, but league chatter around his value is cold. His injury history and current deal have left him with minimal to no trade value, according to reports. That makes him more of a salary obstacle than a trade asset.
So the Lakers face an awkward truth: the clean, obvious path to a new starting power forward may not exist. Not with this cap sheet. Not with this ownership climate. Not with this timing.
Looking Inward When the Clock Is Ticking
On paper, this is the moment for a franchise to push all its chips in. You have Luka Doncic. You have a window, even if no one can say how long it will stay open. You have a Western Conference that punishes hesitation.
The logic says you package what you can, find the right forward, and give your star the best possible platform to chase a title now.
The reality in Los Angeles is messier. Limited trade capital. A tight cap situation. Ownership in transition. Targets drifting out of reach. And a roster that, according to those closest to the situation, is “mostly set” with no major move expected.
So the Lakers may head into this pivotal season asking familiar faces to play unfamiliar roles, betting on internal growth rather than external rescue. It’s a risky wager in a league where windows close fast.
If this is the group that walks into opening night, the question won’t be whether the Lakers explored upgrades. It will be whether a franchise with Luka Doncic at its core did enough — or whether the chaos above the court quietly dictated the ceiling on it.
