3 Lakers Who Will Be Cut Before Training Camp

The Los Angeles Lakers notably didn't make any offseason additions to improve the roster for next season. Much to Lakers fans' frustrations, the team is seemingly bringing back the same group that lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

GM Rob Pelinka was reportedly active in trade talks and free agent negotiations but came up empty-handed. Now, the Lakers have plenty of players under contract who are not good enough to be contributors on a playoff team. There are also no roster spots available for the Lakers to acquire free agents.

That is why it should be a priority for the front office to release a couple of players to create more roster spots and flexibility for potential moves. Here are the three likeliest Lakers to be cut before the 2024-25 season.

1. Christian Wood

This has been the story of Christian Wood in the NBA. Every summer, a team tricks itself into thinking that Wood is a good basketball player thanks to his scoring ability and smooth offensive game. Then mid-way into the season, they realize he can't do anything else on the floor and is terrible defensively. Later, Wood signs elsewhere. There is a reason he has played for eight teams in eight seasons in the league.

That would have happened again if the Lakers hadn't given him a player option for next season for some mind-boggling reason. Now, they are stuck with him. At age 28 and with a proven track record of being a defensive liability, he won't have many trade suitors. Therefore, the only way for the Lakers to create a roster spot would be to waive him.