The Lakers were among the NBA’s most active teams this summer, seeing their long relationship with LeBron James end and remaking their roster through trades and free agency. Still, it’s not clear if they improved on the group that grabbed the No. 4 seed last season and got swept by Oklahoma City in the second round of the playoffs, several ESPN writers state in an early season preview.

Zach Kram gives L.A. a C-minus grade for all its offseason work and notes that Austin Reaves, who signed a four-year max deal in July, is the only Laker among the top seven in playoff minutes last spring who’s still on the team. While Reaves, Luka Doncic and newly acquired center Walker Kessler provide a strong nucleus, Kram states that L.A. has one of the worst groups of forwards in the league and an obvious need for a reliable backup big man, but has nearly exhausted its draft assets.

ESPN’s Ben Golliver considers Doncic to be the winner of the offseason, as he finally got the center that he’s been asking for, while the team continued his partnership with Reaves. Golliver states that Doncic can now focus on making his first long playoff run since taking Dallas to the NBA Finals in 2024.

There’s more on the Lakers:

• L.A. is willing to part with Dalton Knecht along with Jarred Vanderbilt if it helps secure a sign-and-trade deal for Jonathan Kuminga, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints stated on a recent Clutch Scoops podcast (YouTube link, hat tip to BasketNews). The Lakers have been targeting Kuminga for several weeks, but the Hawks are close to the luxury tax line and don’t want to take on Vanderbilt’s $12.4MM salary. Siegel suggests that a third team — and possibly a fourth — may be needed to work out a Kuminga deal. Knecht’s playing time was cut nearly in half during his second NBA season, so he may not have much trade value.
• Doncic, who hosted most of his Lakers teammates in Slovenia last week, hasn’t been in touch with the national team this summer, per Stefan Acevski of Eurohoops. Slovenia is involved in the FIBA 2027 World Cup Qualifiers this month, but Doncic requested a leave of absence “to spend time with his daughters.”
• Mirin Fader of The Athletic talked to several legal experts about what might happen in the Buss family legal dispute surrounding the impending sale of the team. Jeanie Buss is contesting her siblings’ plan to part with their 17.8% stake in the franchise. Some of the experts that Fader contacted contend that her approval is needed before that stake can be sold, but others believe her five siblings have a strong legal case, citing last year’s sale to Mark Walter as a precedent.
• With Walter ready to sell the team a little more than a year after buying it, Jim Alexander of The Orange County Register (subscription required) considers the argument of how important sports owners really are to the success of a franchise.