The Lakers officially waived Jordan Goodwin and Shake Milton on Sunday, opening up the financial flexibility and roster space for the expected signing of Marcus Smart.

Smart is slated to sign a two-year, $10.5 million deal with the Lakers ($5.4 million player option for 2026-27) after he clears waivers following his contract buyout with the Washington Wizards, a source confirmed to the Southern California News Group on Saturday. The Lakers are expected to use all of their $5.1 million bi-annual exception on Smart’s salary for the 2025-26 season, a source told the SCNG.

Before waiving Goodwin and Milton, the Lakers had 15 players signed to standard NBA deals, which is the most teams are allowed to have on their active roster during the season.

The team needed to make multiple roster changes to have access to the full exception salary, leading to Goodwin and Milton being waived, which provided the Lakers with the financial flexibility under the $195.9 million first apron threshold to sign Smart to the $5.1 million salary for 2025-26 he agreed to terms on.

Goodwin’s $2.3 million salary for 2025-26 was partially guaranteed: $25,006 of his salary became guaranteed when the team picked up his team option in late June and the remainder of his salary wasn’t going to become fully guaranteed until Jan. 10, 2026.

Milton, a 28-year-old guard who has been in the NBA for seven seasons, had a $3 million salary for 2025-26 that would’ve become fully guaranteed if he was on the roster past Sunday.

After the signing of Smart, the Lakers will have 14 players signed to standard NBA deals and will be $1.09 million under the first apron, which they are hard-capped at. They won’t have enough financial flexibility under the first apron to sign a player with their 15th roster spot to start the season without making another move.

Goodwin, who originally joined the team in February on a two-way contract before signing a standard deal in March, was in the Lakers’ rotation off the bench in the second half of last season, impressing with his hustle, defense and improved 3-point shooting. He averaged 5.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and a steal in 29 regular-season games (18.7 minutes).

Smart’s contract buyout agreement with the Wizards also became official on Sunday afternoon, with the 2021-22 Defensive Player of the Year likely clearing waivers on Wednesday afternoon, when he’ll officially become an unrestricted free agent and be able to sign with the Lakers.