Los Angeles Lakers 2026 Season Preview
by Zak Drapeau
Sportz Nation - 9/23/2026
2025 Season Review
The LA Lakers finished the 2026 season with a 53-29 record and making it to the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs before getting swept by the Thunder. Their 53 win season and Series win over the Rockets was a huge win for this club who dealt with a lot of injuries and roster turnover especially in the final month of the season.
With Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic both sitting out major time at the end of the season with Doncic missing the final 14 games of the season, the team relied on 41-year old LeBron James and a bunch of role players.
After the Playoff sweep, the team knew that major change was going to be coming with the roster. LeBron was as good as gone and his move to Philly was the talk of the offseason, but players like Hachimura, Smart, Kennard and even Ayton also left after playing 28, 28, 23 and 27 minutes per game for them.
Offseason Moves
So what do you do when you lose Lebron, both your starting PF and C and 2 major Guards off your bench, you hit Free Agency. Luckily the Lakers still had pieces to build around, mainly Luka and Reaves but also Jarred Vanderbilt as a 6-man, defensive Forward off the bench and two young wings who can shoot in Jake LaRavia and Dalton Knecht.
With their biggest needs this offseason at their frontcourt and some backcourt depth, the Lakers biggest move was bringing in Jazz big man Walker Kessler. As a pure back-to-back, 7'2" Center, Kessler is the exact kind of big man for this squad, (mainly a offensive rebounding and defensive anchor with down low scoring potential.
After a few years of utilizing offensive big men like Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura, Kessler is a complete 180 in more of a "complete the puzzle" than a complimentary piece. The Lakers ranked 27th in total rebounds, 29th in offensive rebounds and 22nd in blocked shots.
Kessler missed 77 games last season after tearing his left labrum early on in the season. For the only 5 games he played last season and the entire 2024-25 season, Kessler averaged 11.5 points and 12 rebounds per game with almost 2.5 blocks per game on the other end. Kessler's elite rim protection is his calling card and after being cleared from his shoulder injury should help the Lakers right away on the defensive end.
Beyond Kesler in the frontcourt will be Jarred Vanderbilt who should take on a much bigger role in the starting lineup at Power Forward. They brought in Sandro Mamukelashvili from Toronto to be their stretch-4 and will spend valuable minutes both with the 1st team and at times being the major scoring option off the bench. After 4 seasons in San Antonio and Milwaukee on the bench, Mamuk had his first season of 20+ minutes per game and shot 52-39-75 with 11 points and 5 rebounds per game. If he continues a hot shooting form, he could likely take over the starting Power Forward and major frontcourt scoring role by mid season.
They would also bring in Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton and Matisse Thybulle for their backcourt as well as drafting Cameron Carr, a sharpshooting 6'5" Guard from Baylor. Along with Luka and Reaves, the Lakers now have backcourt depth in ball handlers, shooting and defense. Each player has their own calling card; Sexton brings experience and second-team leadership, Grimes brings a 3-and-D approach and Cameron Carr's hooting touch can get hot at any second along with a 72" wingspan that could make him a good perimeter defender some day.
Pacific Division
The Lakers finished 1st in the Pacific division by 8 games but only had a 10-7 record agsinst the Suns, Warriors, Clippers and Kings. Expected to be the best team by far last season, their 10-7 division record was actually a disappointment.
Moving to 2026-27, the Lakers are even more of a favorite to win the division this year with -170 odds to win on DraftKings. The reasoning for their elitism is because every team in the Pacific division is expected to finish outside of the Playoffs with the Warriors only expected to make the Play-In.
The Warriors are running it back one more time with Steph, Draymond and Steve Kerr but their role players can't make up for the fact their all close to retirement. The Suns have a great backcourt duo of Devin Booker and Jalen Green but with almost nothing behind them. The Clippers have a few pieces here and there but the massive bubble surrounding their franchise over Kawhi will be a factor they can't overcome. Then the Kings, who are projected to finish Bottom-2 in the league and prioritize growing Darius Acuff more than anything this season.
On paper, the Lakers are BY FAR the best team in the Pacific division going into the 2026-27 season. For LA to capitalize on this and make it back into the Playoffs, they will need to improve upon their divisional record from last year. In the grand scheme of a whole, 82-game season, 16 games might not be massive but a 12-14 win record would be crucial when fighting for playoff seeding.
2026 Season Predictions
The Lakers have the 12th best odds to win the NBA Championship this season and 5th in the Western conference. As a team, they are probably properly ranked among their conference but when you account for Luka Doncic, anything's possible.
With a new crop of rising superstars emerging in the West like Shai, Wemby and Ant and the last superstars starting to fall by the wayside like Durant and Harden, I'm of the opinion that Luka is a Top-3 player in the league when healthy and all-around the best offensive player period.
Doncic was averaging 33.5 points per game at 47% shooting last season before tearing his hamstring. His role as the Lakers #1 option has definitely proven to be working as long as he's healthy and his former reputation of being out of shape has definitely been expelled. Now, even more so that LeBron is gone, Luka should have one of the highest usage rates and most shots attempted this season. After setting career highs in 3-pointers attempted and points per 36 minutes played and with a completely healed hamstring, Luka's personal goals HAVE to include an MVP trophy, scoring title and 33+ points per game.
To Luka's side will be Austin Reaves, who may have played a career-low, 51 games, but continued his year-by-year progression after signing his huge 4 year, $184.8 million contract before the season. Reaves set per game-career highs with 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, field goals made and free throws attempted last season. His usage will increase even more heading into this season as the clear #2 after being the 3rd wing over the past 3 seasons. With a natural 48% shot and 37% 3-ball, I can expect Reaves numbers to be around 24 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds per game again.
The team's defense will be the biggest focal point, with neither Luka or Reaves being at all associated with 1st defensive teams in the past but Walker Kessler's presence definitely helping the paint. Jarred Vanderbilt is their best perimeter defender and a decent rebounder on top of it but Coach J.J. Reddick will need to be very creative in crunch time to keep Luka and Reaves out there but still have players that can guard their opponents' best guards.
Overall, the Lakers should be one of the higher-scoring teams in the league but I wouldn't be surprised if they were one of the worst defenses. They allowed 114.6 points per game which is somehow the 11th best in the league but that number should increase with players like Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes being replaced by offensive guys.
With a Luka-centered offense, a shot blocking big man and a very weak division, I expect this team to get 50 wins in 2027. The landscape of the West is much harder to predict at the end of the season but I predict the Thunder and Spurs to secure the Top-2 seeds again, with the Lakers as well as the Timberwolves and Nuggets to compete for the 3rd seed.
The Playoffs are much harder to predict with any of 6 or 7 teams possibly being their 1st round opponent but as long as Luka and Reaves are healthy, they should make it to the 2nd round to once again face off with either of the West Coast Titans.
We'll have to wait and see.
-Z.D.
Comments