![\"LeBron](\"https:\/\/lakersdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25745618_168403908_lowres-e1743524849914.jpg.webp\")
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The 2025-26\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0season is still some time away, but there are all sorts of storylines at play as the campaign inches closer.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s going to happen with LeBron James? How will Luka Doncic look in his first full season with the team? Will Deandre Ayton be the solution for the Lakers at center?<\/p>\n
Will Bronny James crack the rotation? Can J.J. Redick build off a solid first season with the franchise?<\/strong><\/p>\n In some areas, there are more questions than answers for Lakers fans right now. And while there is still enough time left in the offseason for circumstances to change before the season starts, let\u2019s take a moment now to make some predictions based on the way things currently stand.<\/p>\n Here are 25 predictions for the 2025-26 Lakers season as of late July.<\/p>\n 1. LeBron spends the entire season with the Lakers<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite the noise this offseason, LeBron enters the season with the Lakers and ultimately stays with the team for the entire 2025-26 campaign. However\u2026<\/p>\n 2. LeBron trade rumors continue leading up to the deadline<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s no escaping it for Lakers fans, who have to deal with LeBron trade rumors all the way until the deadline passes. Once the deadline comes and goes, the Purple and Gold are able to focus on making a playoff run with James, possibly for the final time.<\/p>\n 3. Ayton proves to be a decent solution at center, but remains imperfect<\/strong><\/p>\n Ayton proves to be a passable option at center for the Lakers, but he doesn\u2019t show any major signs of growth compared to his first seven seasons in the NBA.<\/p>\n 4. Luka doesn\u2019t truly challenge for the MVP award<\/strong><\/p>\n With his improved conditioning and increased comfortability in Los Angeles, Luka puts together a great campaign, but he doesn\u2019t truly contend for the MVP award with James still eating a lot of superstar responsibilities.<\/p>\n 5. Bronny earns a rotation spot and proves that he\u2019s an NBA player<\/strong><\/p>\n After an up-and-down rookie season, Bronny earns a spot in L.A.\u2019s rotation and shows increased growth and confidence. As a reserve guard, he regularly gets between 10 and 15 minutes per night.<\/p>\n 6. The Lakers win the NBA Cup, again<\/strong><\/p>\n The Lakers get hot at the right time and win their second NBA Cup. It\u2019s a cool moment for LeBron and Bronny to win some hardware together.<\/p>\n 7. Questions remain about Luka\u2019s fit with Austin Reaves<\/strong><\/p>\n Doncic and Reaves are able to make it work for another season, but it remains apparent that their play styles aren\u2019t ideal fits for one another, leading to questions about the long-term viability of them as a backcourt duo.<\/p>\n 8. The vibes are, at times, a bit off<\/strong><\/p>\n Even though LeBron spends the whole season with the team, the writing remains on the wall that it\u2019s possibly his final season with L.A. As that lingers throughout the season, it leads to some\u00a0awkward moments.<\/p>\n 9. The West proves to be a big problem, but the Lakers handle it well in the regular season<\/strong><\/p>\n The Western Conference proves to be the monster that many expected while the Eastern Conference lacks many true contenders. Still, the Lakers navigate the West well enough in the regular season to win 50 games again and avoid the play-in tournament.<\/p>\n 10. Marcus Smart ends up as one of the biggest steals of the offseason<\/strong><\/p>\n Smart is able to put together a relatively healthy season for the first time since his\u00a0Boston Celtics\u00a0days, and he does enough to land an All-Defense nod for the first time since his Defensive Player of the Year campaign. He goes down as an incredible value add for the Lakers.<\/p>\n 11. Dalton Knecht shoots above 40 percent from 3<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite buzz that Knecht\u2019s value has\u00a0diminished, the rising sophomore has a strong season, especially from beyond the arc. After shooting 37.6 percent from deep as a rookie, he shoots over 40 percent from long range in his second season.<\/p>\n 12. Gabe Vincent gets moved<\/strong><\/p>\n Amid questions about how much of an impact he can make given L.A.\u2019s roster build, Vincent gets moved either before the season or before the trade deadline.<\/p>\n 13. The Lakers go on a 10-game winning streak<\/strong><\/p>\n The Lakers get hot at some point during the regular season and put together a winning streak of at least 10 games. It helps them solidify themselves in the West as a team that isn\u2019t destined for the play-in.<\/p>\n 14. Redick frustrates fans with his rotations at times<\/strong><\/p>\n As he experiments with different rotations and tries to incorporate the newcomers, Redick makes some decisions that aren\u2019t super popular among some fans. Still, the coach has a good season in his second year at the helm.<\/p>\n 15. Luka\u2019s improved conditioning doesn\u2019t drastically change his defense<\/strong><\/p>\n A slimmed-down Luka shows a little bit of improvement on the defensive end, but it doesn\u2019t suddenly become a strength of his game or something that the average fan notices.<\/p>\n 16. There\u2019s no major decline from LeBron<\/strong><\/p>\n Even after he turns 41 in December, LeBron remains a top talent in the NBA. His scoring takes a slight dip, but he finishes the season with averages of 20-plus points, seven-plus assists and seven-plus rebounds per game once again.<\/p>\n 17. Jake LaRavia finds the best of both worlds as a 3-point shooter<\/strong><\/p>\n In his first season with the Lakers, LaRavia combines volume and efficiency to have the best 3-point shooting season of his career.<\/p>\n 18. Nothing crazy happens at the trade deadline for the Lakers<\/strong><\/p>\n The Lakers, per usual, find themselves linked to some big names leading up to the trade deadline, but they aren\u2019t involved in any blockbuster deals this time around.<\/p>\n 19. The Lakers finish in the top 10 in offensive and defensive rating<\/strong><\/p>\n The Lakers crack the top 10 in both offensive rating and defensive rating in the 2025-26 campaign after finishing 11th and 17th in those categories respectively last season. A solidified center situation and the addition of Smart help the team on D.<\/p>\n 20. Luka has a 60-point\u00a0<\/strong>game<\/b><\/p>\n After doing it twice with the\u00a0Dallas Mavericks, Luka has his first 60-point game with the Lakers. It comes on a random weeknight but quickly becomes one of his most iconic moments in a Lakers uniform so far.<\/p>\n 21. The Lakers find themselves in a \u201cstandings manipulation\u201d situation near the end of the regular season<\/strong><\/p>\n As the end of the regular season approaches, the Lakers have to decide whether they want to play for the highest seed possible or try to control where they land in the standings in order to get a more favorable path to the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n 22. The Lakers do, to some degree, try to control where they finish<\/strong><\/p>\n The Lakers rest guys in their season finale as they try to control who they will face in playoffs. Some fans approve, calling it a sharp play, while others disapprove, saying the Lakers are cheating the basketball gods.<\/p>\n 23. LeBron gets a standing ovation at some point as fans sense the end of his Lakers tenure<\/strong><\/p>\n Lakers fans, feeling that this is LeBron\u2019s last season with the team, give him a standing ovation at a home game either near the end of the regular season or at some point in the playoffs.<\/p>\n 24. The Lakers win a series in the playoffs<\/strong><\/p>\n Unlike last season, the Lakers are able to win a playoff series, perhaps partly because of their move to manipulate the standings. It puts L.A. in the second round for the first time since the 2022-23 season, when the team made a run to the Western Conference Finals.<\/p>\n 25. LeBron\u2019s Lakers era ends with a playoff elimination<\/strong><\/p>\n The magic runs out, with the Lakers getting eliminated in the playoffs to effectively end LeBron\u2019s tenure with the team. It leads to a fascinating offseason for franchise and the four-time NBA champion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The 2025-26\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0season is still some time away, but there are all sorts of storylines at play as the campaign inches closer. What\u2019s going to happen… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83626,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n