Lakers News: Key Offseason Dates for Los Angeles

It'd sure be nice if the team hired a head coach soon.

Apr 28, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka looks on prior to game six of the 2023 NBA playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers' offseason has been pretty rocky thus far.

After firing head coach Darvin Ham on May 3, team president Rob Pelinka and team majority owner Jeanie Buss have been taking their sweet time in finding his replacement. Los Angeles very publicly whiffed on stealing University of Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley, who rejected a reported $70 million offer from the Purple and Gold to stay in Storrs.

The team has seen several qualified candidates go off the board for other jobs, including top Boston Celtics assistant coach Charles Lee to the Charlotte Hornets, 2021 championship-winning ex-Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer to the Phoenix Suns, and former Sacramento Kings assistant coach Jordi Fernandez to the Brooklyn Nets.

Los Angeles better look to bring somebody on board soon, as the club has a lot of important offseason dates rapidly approaching this month.

June 18 - Incumbent Free Agency Begins

Thanks to a fresh CBA rule, NBA teams can get a head start on re-signing their own free agents weeks before the official start of general free agency. For L.A., this means the club can get a jump on bringing back a pair of rotation pieces in reserve forward Taurean Prince and backup point guard Spencer Dinwiddie. Bringing back Prince, for a reasonable deal, makes plenty of sense. Dinwiddie underperformed in the playoffs for Los Angeles and seemed tentative as a supplemental playmaker, while offering little resistance on the other end. Gabe Vincent, the team's nominal backup point guard who missed most of 2023-24 with a knee injury, should theoretically be recuperated fully by this upcoming season, and is a far better perimeter defender.

June 26-27 - NBA Draft

The Lakers currently have the No. 17 pick in the first round and the No. 55 selection in the second round. In the first round, L.A. has been linked to defensive-oriented Providence guard Devin Carter and has been floated as a destination for Purdue center Zach Edey. The team is also supposedly gunning for USC backup point guard Bronny James, son of Lakers All-Star LeBron, who seems likely to be drafted at some point in the second round — but may not last till the No. 55 pick is made.

June 30 - General Free Agency Begins

Starting at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET, free agent players can officially begin talking with rival teams. In the past, this hasn't actually prevented these conversations from happening ahead of time.

July 27 - Olympic Basketball Begins

Los Angeles' two All-Stars, center Anthony Davis and LeBron James, are playing for Team USA in an Olympics tournament for the first time since 2012. They'll be suiting up for one of the most loaded rosters in the program's history, as they'll be joined by surefire future Hall of Famers Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard (if he's healthy), and Jayson Tatum, plus young All-Stars Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Tyrese Haliburton, and Anthony Edwards, plus 34-year-old All-Defensive guard (and, along with Tatum, newly-minted 2024 champion) Jrue Holiday.

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