The Los Angeles Lakers started the offseason very quietly, but were eventually able to make some key additions. The most notable players joining the team are center Deandre Ayton and guard Marcus Smart.
Both players should help the Lakers improve in key areas this season. Ayton gives the team a reliable center who is an effective offensive player, while Smart should bring strong perimeter defense.
However, neither player is a significant enough upgrade to suggest that the Lakers are title favorites next season. In fact, a lot of people aren’t high on what the team did this offseason. David Aldridge of The Athletic went through and ranked every team’s offseason, and he wasn’t impressed with what president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka did. The Lakers were ranked 24th in the NBA.
“The Buss Family, God love ’em, ran the Lakers like a business, not a plaything/tax write-off,” Aldridge wrote. “Walter’s largesse won’t be as industry-jarring in the NBA as it is in Major League Baseball, but if Walter’s spending on the Dodgers is any guide, the Lakers will get closer to the industry standard off the court under the new ownership. We’ll see if Ayton can still be a major difference maker after flaming out in Phoenix and Portland. Similarly, Smart isn’t what he was in Boston, but many advanced stats show he’s still one of the better defensive guards in the league – and he’s better defensively than anyone else L.A. can roll out. Losing DFS, though, is a blow.”
Lakers Should Be Better in 2025-26
The Lakers may have only made marginal roster upgrades this offseason, but they were the third seed in the Western Conference last season.
They’re also going to have a full season of Luka Doncic on the roster, which should make them better.
The Lakers likely aren’t title favorites, but neither were the Oklahoma City Thunder before last season. Los Angeles has some very good pieces, and if LeBron James still plays at an All-NBA level, they have one of the best duos in the sport.
The Lakers need a lot of stuff to work in their favor if they’re going to win a championship, but it’s not impossible.
Lakers Can Still Improve
The roster that the Lakers currently have will likely be the one that they head into the 2025-26 season with. That doesn’t mean they won’t eventually be able to make improvements. Pelinka has proven to be more effective at making trades during the season than in the offseason.
There aren’t any obvious trades the Lakers could make, but nobody saw them trading for Doncic last season before it actually happened. It’s always possible that a big trade could materialize.
Even smaller trades have proven effective for the Lakers in recent years. Doncic is the only player on the roster who definitely isn’t going anywhere.
James could be dealt if the season isn’t off to a great start, or Austin Reaves could be used to help land a star. There will be a lot of possibilities for the Lakers to shake up their roster during the season.
