The Lakers do need to make changes to their roster to improve their team, but they also need to retain the good parts from last season’s roster.
Los Angeles began this part of the process on Sunday, reportedly exercising the team option for Jordan Goodwin.
They also have reportedly tendered a qualifying offer to two-way player Christian Koloko.
The Los Angeles Lakers have picked up their $2.3M team option for Jordan Goodwin. His contract now becomes lightly guaranteed for 2025-26.
The Lakers also tendered a two-way qualifying offer to Christian Koloko. Koloko will now be a restricted free agent on July 1.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 29, 2025
A qualifying offer for a two-way player is not much different than any restricted free agent as it’ll allow the Lakers to match any offer extended to Koloko.
Here is a good explanation as to how qualifying offers for two-way players work, courtesy of Hoops Rumors.
A different set of rules applies to players coming off two-way contracts. For most of those players, the qualifying offer would be equivalent to a one-year, two-way salary, with a small portion (known as the “maximum two-way protection amount”) guaranteed.
Goodwin joined the Lakers on a two-way deal during the middle of the season back in February. He averaged 5.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game as a Laker.
Those numbers don’t jump off the page, but it’s his elite defensive guard play that entrenched him into head coach JJ Redick’s rotation. The team took him off his two-way deal and signed him to a guaranteed contract in March.
With the Lakers reportedly picking up the team option on Goodwin, it gives them a solid defensive presence on the perimeter.
Christian Kolko was signed as a two-way player back in September, but wasn’t medically cleared to play by the NBA until October.
Once he was able to suit up for the Lakers, he had no further health setbacks and played in 37 games as a two-way center.
Koloko averaged 2.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.4 blocks during his 2024-25 NBA action. While he is still not on a standard contract like Goodwin, the Lakers clearly valued him enough to reportedly tender a qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent.
Koloko is still a young, promising talent. Given that the Lakers are in desperate need of center play, it’s worth keeping young players on your roster who have a chance of growing into that role.
He didn’t see much time on the floor, averaging 9.2 minutes a game, but in the G League, he shined, averaging 14.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks across ten games.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.