Danny Green thinks the Lakers may have found a few swing pieces in their new-look roster, and he named three players in particular who could help turn the group into something dangerous.
Appearing Friday on the Mason & Ireland show, the former NBA guard was asked which of Los Angeles’ additions might surprise people. Green started with the obvious stars, then moved quickly into the names he believes could really change the tone of the rotation.
“There’s a couple of people,” Green said. “Obviously, we know what Austin [Reaves] and Luka [Doncic] can do.
And then you got…Walker Kessler, but I’m looking at guys like the rook, Cameron Carr, but like Ziaire [Williams] and [Sandro Mamukelashvili]. Those two guys, Collin Sexton, a defensive presence, that could come off the bench or start.
Be a point guard for them.
“Those three guys, to me, can be X-factors for the group like what Jake [LaRavia] was last year,” Green added. “Jake can still carry that over and be better, but I think those three guys are guys that I’m looking at that can probably make a jump and make this team dangerous if they progress.”
That mention of Jake LaRavia may raise eyebrows for some Lakers fans. He posted 8.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in 2025-26, and while he was a useful piece, his 32.1% shooting from three-point range limited what he could do offensively.
Green’s three names - Ziaire Williams, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Collin Sexton - each bring something different to the table, and the Lakers are clearly counting on at least one of them to pop.
Williams signed a one-year, $3 million deal this summer after averaging 10.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game for the Brooklyn Nets in 2025-26. At 6-foot-9, he gives Los Angeles a strong wing defender, and he has said he intends to take on the best opposing scorers. Right now, he looks like one of the leading options for the starting power forward job.
Mamukelashvili is also in the mix there, but his situation looks a little different. The Lakers gave him a four-year, $52 million contract, yet he may wind up fitting better as a reserve because the team needs a reliable defender at the four and he does not bring Williams’ defensive profile.
Offensively, though, he has real value. He averaged 11.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game for the Toronto Raptors in 2025-26 while shooting 38.9% from deep.
The Lakers will be hoping for plenty of open corner threes from him next season.
Sexton, meanwhile, comes in on a two-year, $19 million deal after putting up 15.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game for the Charlotte Hornets and the Chicago Bulls in 2025-26. Green described him as a defensive presence, even though that has not really been the reputation Sexton has carried. Still, Sexton is aiming to mirror the kind of defensive impact Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley had for the Lakers.
Green also shared his broader view of the roster overhaul, and he liked where the team ended up after a summer of changes.
“I mean, at first I wasn’t sure where they were going, the direction,” Green said. “And then everything happened so fast, and I was like, ‘Damn, okay.
This piece, that piece.’ And I liked a lot of the pieces they picked up.
I know they’re young, so not super experienced. I think they’re going to be a pretty good regular season team.
“Playoffs, I don’t know because of the youth and inexperience, but I like the pieces,” Green added. “I like the moves they made.
I like the pieces they have. They have more depth, and they got younger and faster.
They can get out and run a little more.”
The Lakers’ offseason has brought in Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Matisse Thybulle, Kevon Looney, Jaden Hardy, and Cameron Carr as well, creating a rotation that now has close to 10 new faces. The challenge now is figuring out how all of it fits alongside Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
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