The Los Angeles Lakers are looking for the final piece of their 2026 offseason, with President Rob Pelinka still recruiting star free agents.
The Las Vegas Summer League is the first major event of the new NBA season, with executives from all 30 teams in attendance to evaluate their young players and conduct business.
With a clear frontcourt hole for the new reshuffled Lakers roster after LeBron James’ confirmed exit, Pelinka might be trying to add the highest-profile free agent left to replace him.
Lakers’ Rob Pelinka seen talking to Nuggets free agent Peyton Watson
Fans and reporters in attendance for the Lakers vs. Thunder Summer League game last night could easily see Pelinka having a long conversation with Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson.
Watson is coming off a breakout season where he averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.9 steals, and 1.1 blocks on 41.1% from three, emerging as a two-way star.
As a result, Watson is looking for a $30 million payday that the Nuggets can’t afford. The Clippers are reportedly trying to acquire him, but the Lakers might be in the mix as well.
It’s hard to see what assets the Lakers could use to acquire Watson when they’re already struggling to acquire Jonathan Kuminga.
Watson would be the top option for every contender looking for a wing, so Pelinka might just be doing his due diligence to see if there are any pathways to landing him.
Lakers fans want Peyton Watson
“Rob needs to find a way to land him,” said one eager fan.
“If he somehow made this happen…” said another fan.
“Mind you, the Nuggets had a summer league game a couple hours before this and he didn’t go to that,” a fan pointed out.
“Long embrace + Pelinka came back over top with an extra grab and hold at the end. He wanted to hold the contact. They are up to something, and hopefully it ends with Pelinka landing in Denver,” said one fan, mockingly.
“Rob talking about the amount of trees Watson can plant in LA w/ Mark Walter’s help,” said another fan while joking about Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers troubles.
The Lakers don’t have the salary space or the draft assets to entice the Nuggets into sign-and-trading Watson to them, so this seems like an impossibility.
But acquiring Luka Doncic in a trade in the middle of his prime also seemed like an impossibility, but Pelinka did pull that off, so you never know.
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