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Lakers Nightly Desk · transactions · Monday, September 28

Cole Swider Joins the Los Angeles Lakers Roster

Free agent→Los Angeles Lakers
13
Cole Swider
F · 27 · 3 seasons
The move
Joins the Lakers
official roster · Sep 28, 2026
2026-27 cap hit
Not on file yet
public salary data lags a signing by a day
Lakers payroll
$204.0M
in the tax · cap $165.0M · tax $200.4M
Roster
23 players
standard limit 15 + 3 two-way
By the Lakers Nightly Desk · 2 h ago

Cole Swider is on the Los Angeles Lakers roster as of Monday, Sep. 28, per the team's official roster. The 27-year-old forward arrives from free agency, with no report on file ahead of the move.

The move

Cole Swider is on the Los Angeles Lakers roster, a change detected Monday, Sep. 28, from the club's official roster. He arrives from free agency, having held no roster spot immediately before this move. No report preceded the transaction; it was picked up directly from the roster listing rather than from any injury or transaction report. Swider is 27 years old and has three seasons of experience.

The money

Swider's contract is not on file yet; public salary data can lag a signing by a day. The Lakers carry $204.0 million in payroll across 18 contracts for 2026-27, putting the club over the luxury tax. The salary cap is set at $165.0 million, the tax line at $200.4 million, the first apron at $209.0 million and the second apron at $221.7 million.

The fit

Swider has no NBA line from last season. He joins a Lakers group where, last season, Luka Doncic played 35.8 minutes and scored 33.5 points a game, Austin Reaves logged 34.5 minutes and 23.3 points, LeBron James played 33.2 minutes and scored 20.9 points, Rui Hachimura logged 28.3 minutes and 11.5 points, and Jake LaRavia played 25.1 minutes and 8.2 points. The roster now carries 23 players, against a standard limit of 15 plus three two-way spots.

What position does Cole Swider play?

He plays forward.

Is Swider's contract on file?

Not yet. Public salary data can lag a signing by a day.

Did a report precede this move?

No report is logged ahead of the transaction. It was detected from the official roster.

By the Lakers Nightly Desk, from the data on this page, rewritten when the data changes. How the desks work.
No contract on file yet: public salary data usually catches up within a day.

Lakers rotation

tracker →
Luka Doncic35.8 min · 33.5 pts
Austin Reaves34.5 min · 23.3 pts
Walker Kessler30.8 min · 14.4 pts
Quentin Grimes29.4 min · 13.4 pts
Jake LaRavia25.1 min · 8.2 pts
Collin Sexton23.7 min · 15.4 pts

Moves are detected from the official rosters, so the mechanism (trade, signing, waiver claim, two-way conversion) comes from the linked report when there is one. Salary figures are cap hits from public salary data.