Lakers Rumors: 'Far More Doors Closed' in Trade Talks Under New CBA Than in Past

The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly found it difficult to make progress on the trade market due to significant changes to the NBA collective bargaining agreement on recent years.

Speaking Wednesday on Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective (beginning at the 13:33 mark), ESPN's Dave McMenamin provided some insight into the Lakers' situation, saying:

"There is a different landscape to trades with the restrictive nature of the new CBA, and that's something, conceptually, people within the Lakers have talked to me about that. As we canvass for potential ideas, there are far more doors closed than there have been in the past."

That could explain why the Lakers didn't make any major roster moves during the offseason despite constant rumors and speculation regarding the team wanting to add another star to the core of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Due to the CBA, a second tax apron was introduced for the 2024-25 season, and it severely restricts what teams can do if they surpass the apron.

Per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, some of the limitations include losing the mid-level exception, not being allowed to combined multiple players to match the salary of a single player in a trade and not being permitted to use trade exceptions or cash in a trade.

The Lakers are only above the first apron thanks in large part to James taking a team-friendly deal, but even that comes with some challenges.

Most notably, first-apron teams cannot make trades where they take on more salary than they send away, nor can they sign a player waived during the season if their salary is higher than the mid-level exception.

Those factors are tough on a contending team like the Lakers since they have to find enough salary to trade away for an impact player without decimating their roster while also parting with draft capital.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst said Wednesday that Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka has suggested any trade involving a significant amount of draft picks will need ownership approval since many of those picks are likely to be made once LeBron is no longer in the fold.

Windhorst noted that while the Lakers are willing to make such a trade for the right player, they haven't yet been presented with the ideal opportunity to make that type of trade worth it.

Windhorst added that the Lakers unsaid goal this season is for James and Davis to get them to a position where they are serious enough contenders to warrant making a big move prior to the trade deadline.

Despite having to go through the postseason play-in tournament, the Lakers reached the Western Conference Finals two seasons ago and then lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of last season's playoffs.

They are off to a bit of an up-and-down start at 6-4, but that is good for seventh in the Western Conference, putting them just a half-game out of an all-important top-six position, which would allow them to avoid the play-in.

Assuming L.A. is able to hover around that spot for much of the season, it could conceivably be enough to convince Pelinka to get aggressive, even with the limitations the Lakers face as a first-apron team.