The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly found it difficult to make headway in the trade market due to significant changes to the NBA collective bargaining agreement in recent years.

“There’s a different environment in trades because of the restrictive nature of the new CBA, and that’s conceptually something that people at the Lakers have talked to me about. There are a lot more closed doors when it comes to exploring potential ideas than there have been in the past.”

This may explain why the Lakers didn’t make any significant roster moves during the offseason, despite constant rumors and speculation that the team was looking to add another star to the core of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

A second tax apron has been introduced for the 2024-25 season due to the CBA, severely restricting what teams can do if they overstep the apron.

Per Jake Fischer Some of Yahoo Sports’ restrictions include losing the mid-level exception, not allowing multiple players to be combined to match a single player’s salary in a trade, and not allowing trade exceptions or cash to be used in a trade.

The Lakers are on the first plate, thanks in large part to James making a team-friendly deal, but even that presents some challenges.

Most importantly, first base teams cannot trade for salaries they receive more than they send out, nor can they sign a player waived during the season if their salaries are above the mid-level exception.

These factors are difficult for a struggling team like the Lakers because they must find enough salary to trade for an impact player without losing their roster and also parting with draft capital.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said any trade involving a significant amount of draft picks would need ownership approval because many of those picks are likely to be made when LeBron is no longer on the roster, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Wednesday.

Windhorst stated that although the Lakers are willing to make such a trade for the right player, they have not yet been presented with the ideal opportunity to make such a trade worth it.

Windhorst added that the Lakers’ unspoken goal this season is to develop James and Davis into serious enough contenders to warrant a big move before the trade deadline.

The Lakers reached the Western Conference Finals two seasons ago despite having to qualify for the postseason play-in tournament, then lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of last season’s playoffs.

They’re off to a bit of a bumpy start at 6-4, but that’s good for seventh place in the Western Conference, which leaves them just half a game behind the all-important top six spots. let them avoid the game.

Assuming Los Angeles can hang around at this point for most of the season, it could probably be enough to convince Pelinka to be aggressive despite the limitations the Lakers face as a front-row team.