NBA Rumors: Lakers to Be 'Patient' on Buyout Market, Eye SG After Luka, Knecht Trades

Don't expect the Los Angeles Lakers to make much noise on the buyout market after a busy trade deadline for the team that included adding superstar Luka Dončić and talented young big man Mark Williams.

"No news, other than the Lakers are going to be patient and they're looking for a shooting guard," The Athletic's Jovan Buha said Thursday on his podcast while talking about the Lakers' potential approach to the buyout market (1:37:00 mark).

That patience won't be fully self-imposed—the Lakers are limited to what they can do in terms of adding buyout players, given that they are an apron team.

At this point, the Lakers have a pretty solid rotation ready to go.

Dončić, Williams, LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura should comprise the starting lineup. Gabe Vincent will handle backup point guard duties, Jaxson Hayes will serve as the backup center and the pair of Dorian Finney-Smith—who may supplant Hachimura in the starting lineup at some point—and the recently-returned Jarred Vanderbilt are available at forward.

Markieff Morris could see some minutes at the 4 or as a small-ball 5, but he'll likely be outside of the Lakers' core nine-man rotation. Maxi Kleber provides frontcourt depth as well, though like Morris probably won't see many minutes. That leaves another shooting guard as an obvious target, though Shake Milton could get some run in that role.

The Lakers are limited in who they could add. Bruce Brown would have been a fantastic potential target but he's not available to apron teams given his salary. Josh Richardson, Seth Curry, Reggie Jackson or perhaps even Lonnie Walker IV—who is currently playing in Europe—are possibilities.

It's not a terribly exciting batch of options, especially for a Lakers team that has a strong nine-man rotation but gets very thin beyond that core group. That isn't necessarily an issue if the Lakers stay healthy—the rotation will be tightened come the postseason—but it could become a major concern if they deal with injuries down the stretch.

Regardless, L.A. fans shouldn't be expecting any kind of major splash from here. The main work has been done, with Dončić and Williams reshaping the look of these Lakers. Anything else will be a minor upgrade to the fringes of the roster.