The Los Angeles Lakers will enter training camp with one immediate roster issue still unresolved: they currently have more players on guaranteed standard contracts than they can carry into the regular season.

The offseason brought major changes in Los Angeles, including LeBron James’ departure after eight seasons and the addition of nine players.

The franchise has now moved firmly into the Luka Doncic era, with questions surrounding the rebuilt roster, Walker Kessler’s impact and whether Austin Reaves can establish himself as Doncic’s clear No. 2 option.

But before those larger questions can be answered, the Lakers need to reduce their roster.

The signing of Matisse Thybulle to a one-year, $3.3 million veteran minimum deal increased the number of guaranteed standard contracts to 16, while only 15 can remain once the regular season begins.

With the season approaching, Jaden Hardy, Dalton Knecht and Jarred Vanderbilt appear to be the primary players who could be moved or waived. Finding a team willing to surrender a draft pick for one of them, however, appears difficult.

Vanderbilt is due $12.4 million this season and holds a $13.3 million player option for 2027-28, while Knecht’s reduced role has also hurt his trade value.

Those circumstances make receiving even a second-round pick for either player individually unlikely.

A consolidation trade therefore stands out as the most likely solution. Los Angeles could package two players from the Hardy-Knecht-Vanderbilt group in exchange for one player, ideally finding a team with an available roster spot and an expiring contract.

Such a move would reduce the Lakers to the required 15 players while preserving future financial flexibility.

The other possibility would be simply waiving someone such as Hardy or Knecht.

That would immediately solve the roster problem, but Los Angeles would have to carry the waived player’s dead money for the season because the deadline to use the stretch provision on the current-season salary has already passed.