The Los Angeles Lakers attempted to make a series of offseason moves to fill the holes on their roster. While they added more frontcourt depth with Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia, the Lakers are far from a roster deep and talented enough to contend with the best teams in the NBA.
What complicates matters is that the Lakers currently can't sign another player despite having a roster spot available. As ESPN reported this week, because the Lakers signed Ayton and LaRavia using the non-taxpayer midlevel exception, they are hard-capped at the first apron. This prevents them from signing a 15th player until January 18.
Lakers Must Offload Maxi Kleber's Salary to Sign Another Big Man in FA
That is why it is of utmost priority for the Lakers to part ways with at least one of their expendable veterans to make room for a free agent signing. Al Horford is still unsigned on the market, and clearing room to bring the versatile big man in would go a long way in turning LA into a title contender.
The player that needs to go is Maxi Kleber. The 33-year-old big man is on an expiring contract for $11 million for the 2025-26 season. The Lakers can either attach draft capital in a trade to offload Kleber's contract or use the stretch provision to release him and distribute his salary over the next three seasons.
On paper, Kleber is the type of player the Lakers need. He can space the floor offensively and defend multiple positions defensively. Yet, he carries significant injury risk as he missed the entire second half of last regular season after joining the Lakers in the Luka Doncic trade. The German veteran hasn't played over 43 games in any of the last three regular seasons.
The Lakers are already paying eight-figure salaries to Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent for next season. They simply don't have the luxury to pay another fringe rotation player over $10 million in salary. That roster spot and salary slot would be better utilized for a more dependable player.
Horford would obviously be the best option among remaining free agents, but if he is planning on signing elsewhere, the likes of Precious Achiuwa and Trey Lyles are also worthy of consideration for a roster spot.