The Lakers spent the summer reshaping the roster around Luka Doncic, but the internal read on the move is more complicated than a simple upgrade. According to NBA insider Jovan Buha, there’s a real sense inside the organization that the team may have taken a step back for 2026-27, even if the front office believes the bigger plan is on track.
“More often than not, there was an acknowledgment that we might have taken a step back this season,” said Jovan Buha. “You could argue that, on paper, we don’t have the same top-end talent.
We lost LeBron, we lost good players in Marcus and Rui and Luke, and we understand why some people are down on the offseason, why some people feel that we’ve taken a step back. But this is about the longer-term vision here.
You’re building this core from the ground up around Luka and Austin, and having these guys in their mid 20s all together to build out the next 3-5 years or so with this core.”
That’s the tension hanging over Los Angeles right now. The Lakers made a lot of changes, and they did it with purpose, but purpose doesn’t always translate into an immediate talent bump. They lost LeBron James, Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, Deandre Ayton, and Luke Kennard, then replaced that group with Walker Kessler, Ziaire Williams, Colin Sexton, Kevon Looney, and Quentin Grimes, among others.
LeBron’s departure is the biggest hit of all. He wasn’t just a high-level producer - he also brought the kind of steadiness that shapes a locker room. Last season, he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game while shooting 51.5% from the field and 31.7% from three.
The Lakers have been operating in win-now mode ever since Doncic arrived, with GM Rob Pelinka pushing in the remaining chips to build the best roster possible. That approach hasn’t changed, but the timeline has. Doncic is only 27 and locked into a multi-year contract, and the Lakers are betting they have enough runway to get this right without forcing a panic move.
So even if the roster looks thinner on paper, the organization isn’t treating this summer like a failure. The Lakers believe in the core of Doncic and Austin Reaves, and they saw enough in their first full season together to keep building around it. The depth and star power may not match teams like the Thunder and Spurs, but Los Angeles still thinks it has a path to matter in the West and maybe surprise a few people along the way.
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The bigger question is how that production fits when the games start to matter. Thiero has yet to make a three-pointer in Summer League, which leaves his offensive ceiling in one lane, but the Lakers are clearly intrigued by what he can do on the other end, especially after JJ Redick pushed him toward becoming the teams point-of-attack defender. For a roster that still needs reliable perimeter resistance, that is the kind of role that can turn a strong summer into something much more important. [Read more 🡒]