Lakers may give up on re-signing Rui Hachimura! Have scouted targets like Duren and Kessler: multiple players fit Doncic

According to Lakers beat reporter Dave McMenamin on June 18, Beijing time, the Lakers are looking to keep Smart and Kennard while possibly letting Hachimura go. They've also done early scouting on multiple restricted free agents such as Duren, Kessler, Watson, and Eason.

It was Luka Doncic who actively recruited Smart to the Lakers. Smart has a $5.4 million expiring contract and must decide whether to exercise his player option by June 30. Insiders say he is satisfied with his role in LA and hopes to sign a new contract with a raise.

Kennard holds an $11 million expiring contract and previously played two and a half seasons with the Clippers. He now intends to stay in Los Angeles long-term. At the trade deadline, the Lakers sent Vincent and a second-round pick to Atlanta to acquire Kennard. During Doncic's injury absence, he shouldered the offensive load, averaging 11.5 points in the playoffs with a 47.4% three-point percentage.

The biggest unknown is forward Rui Hachimura. The 28-year-old averaged 11.5 points in the regular season on 51.4% shooting and 44.3% from three; in the playoffs, he improved to 17.5 points per game on 54.9% overall and 56.9% from deep. His $18.3 million contract expires this summer.

Multiple league sources told ESPN that Hachimura might be the one the Lakers let go, requiring him to test free agency to find a satisfactory offer.

However, ESPN senior salary cap expert Bobby Marks analyzed that if the Lakers operate over the cap, they can use Bird rights to re-sign all their own free agents, including Hachimura, and still have the $15.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign outside free agents.

If the Lakers take this route, the only way to adjust the core roster is through trades: possibly packaging future first-round picks along with Vanderbilt ($12.4 million) and Ayton after he exercises his player option, to acquire new talent via trade.

Sources familiar with the Lakers' roster-building philosophy told ESPN that the team has completed preliminary scouting on several restricted free agents.

Among them, Detroit's Duren and Utah's Kessler perfectly match Doncic's desire to bring in a top center. The other two targets: Denver's Watson and Houston's Eason, are the 3-and-D wing archetypes that any strong team in modern basketball needs.

However, pursuing restricted free agents carries risk: the original team has 48 hours to match any offer, and during that window, the Lakers' cap space is locked, leaving very little room for error in operations.

As for unrestricted free agents who fit Doncic's system, Detroit's Tobias Harris, Miami's Norman Powell, Chicago's Anfernee Simons, New York's Mitchell Robinson, Charlotte's Coby White, Philadelphia's Quentin Grimes, Cleveland's Dean Wade, and New York's Landry Shamet all match the Lakers' reinforcement needs to varying degrees.