NBA free agency hasn't gone according to plan for the Los Angeles Lakers just yet, who just suffered a stinging loss that should frustrate fans. Back in February, the Lakers traded Gabe Vincent and a second-round pick for Luke Kennard.
His hot shooting helped them in the playoffs, and he was expected to be re-signed. Unfortunately for Lakers fans, he just signed with the Phoenix Suns on a cheap, 2-year, $13 million deal.
Having him leave for only $6.5 million annually, a number L.A. could have matched, should infuriate fans. Especially with it marking the second time in little more than a year that the Lakers lost a free agent months after trading assets for them.
The Lakers are doing an awful job of asset management
The Lakers traded for Dorian Finney-Smith in February 2025 in a deal that resulted in them giving up three second-round picks. However, by June, he had signed with the Houston Rockets. That means that L.A. gave up four second-round picks for two rentals.
Big deal, right? I mean it's only second-round picks. Well, the problem is that the Lakers have among the fewest remaining draft picks in the NBA, so they can afford to waste draft capital on rentals.
Especially if they are unable or unwilling to re-sign those players to reasonable deals. Finney-Smith's contract was reasonable, and so was Kennard's, but the Lakers opted to let both leave. That awful decision-making that keeps coming back to bite Los Angeles.
The Lakers' poor decision-making keeps coming back to bite them
After trading their two remaining first-round picks for Walker Kessler, it makes GM Rob Pelinka's decision to essentially give away second rounds even worse.
Now, the Lakers have no tradeable first-round picks for the next seven years and only one remaining second. That makes the possibly of another trade ridiculously difficult.
Remember, most good teams are often short on first-round picks, so they often rely on second-rounders to make trades happen. Of course, L.A. wasting those second-rounders will almost certainly come back to bite them. That's what makes their decision to waste those picks all the more puzzling.
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