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Los Angeles Lakers season preview: Lineup, roster and prediction

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It’s been a tale of two summers for the Los Angeles Lakers.

After getting swept in the second round of last year’s playoffs and losing LeBron James to free agency, president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka was emboldened by Mark Walter’s heavy investment in building out the front office to overhaul the roster around Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves.

The first swing was the biggest one: trading for Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz for two first-round draft picks and two unprotected first-round pick swaps and immediately signing him to a four-year, $129.47 million contract. It may have cost everything, to quote Thanos, but the Lakers secured the best available center this offseason to pair with Dončić for the long-term.

Pelinka used almost all of the cap space created by James’ departure on depth, adding Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton, Quentin Grimes, Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams. All solid signings, but there are still questions on what this Lakers team’s ceiling truly is, especially in a stacked Western Conference in which they’ll have to go through the likes of the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.

Almost all of that was overshadowed by Walter’s shocking decision to sell his majority stake in the Lakers to Joshua Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger for a record $12.5 billion amid a federal investigation into disclosures involving Walter-controlled insurers and related investments. This all just 10 months after buying the team from the Buss family, the majority of whom in turn voted to sell their remaining 17.8% in shares to Kushner and Iger. The entire transaction, however, is on hold as Lakers governor Jeanie Buss contested her sibling’s plans in court.

With no clear resolution to the Succession-esque power struggle seemingly in sight, it looks as if the re-tooled Lakers will start this season with just as many questions off the court as they have on it.

Here’s a breakdown of the Los Angeles Lakers’ offseason moves and what to expect from them heading into the 2026-27 NBA season:

LOS ANGELES LAKERS SCHEDULE: Dates, times and opponents for 2026-27 season

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All-time Los Angeles Lakers legends who shaped the game

Jerry West (#44) played 14 seasons from 1960-1974 with the Lakers and was a force who never left the NBA once he got there, according to USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt. The Hall of Famer, pictured here in action against the Cincinnati Royals, was remembered for his imprint as a shooting guard and builder of teams. His impact remains visible in today’s NBA and he went on to touch generations of teams and players, including LeBron James, who talked to West about winning and losing.

(Malcolm Emmons, IMAGN IMAGES)

  • Record last season: 53-29 (4th in Western Conference)

  • Playoff finish: Eliminated in second round (0-4, against Thunder)

  • 2026-27 title odds: +4000 (per BetMGM)

Key roster additions

  • C Walker Kessler (sign and trade)

  • F/C Sandro Mamukelashvili (free agent signing)

  • G/F Quentin Grimes (free agent signing)

  • G Collin Sexton (free agent signing)

  • G Matisse Thybulle (free agent signing)

Key roster losses

  • F LeBron James (free agency)

Biggest question entering training camp

Who will round out LA’s starting five?

  • JJ Redick told reporters at the Lakers’ start of the season press conference on Thursday that he feels good about three of the five starting spots: Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler. That leaves two spots open on the wing. Assuming Reaves starts at shooting guard alongside Dončić in the backcourt, they’ll need guys to slot in at the 3 and the 4. The biggest name, and contract, is Sandro Mamukelashvili, who became a favorite in Toronto among the fanbase, in the locker room and around NBA scouting departments due to his size and his 38.9% 3-point percentage. There are questions about his defense, however, and depending on how healthy Kevon Looney can stay, there’s a real chance Mamukelashvili gets a chunk of minutes as a backup center. Sierra Canyon High School alum Ziaire Williams was signed to a one-year flier and fits the 3-and-D bill that the Lakers have badly needed over the last few years. He’s also reportedly added muscle to his slender 185-pound frame, but will it be enough to withstand big minutes over a full season? There’s also Jake LaRavia, who struggled mightily down the stretch of the regular season and in the playoffs last year to the point where his minutes dropped to just 14.3 per game. He does, however, have a year of experience playing alongside Dončić and Reaves, and he played relatively well in the first half of 2025-26. That chemistry is hard to dismiss on a roster that’s been as overhauled as the Lakers’ has. Matisse Thybulle is probably the best defender of the bunch; he could slide in at the 2 if Reaves were to move over to the 3, but that would leave Dončić (6-8) as the team’s tallest starter outside of the 7-foot-2 Kessler and with his injury history, would it even be worth it? The one thing we do know? “The other two spots will not be two white guys,” Redick joked to reporters on Thursday.

  • There’s also another question to be answered about who makes the roster at all. The Lakers currently have 16 players signed to guaranteed contracts; they’ll need to get down to 15 by opening day. The obvious solution is to simply waive one of the fringe players on the roster, but Pelinka told reporters Thursday he’s looking into all options, including a consolidation trade. That would allow the Lakers to get something back − while preferably addressing an area of need − instead of letting a player go for nothing. Pelinka does, however, want to let camp play out before making his decision on how to move forward.

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Luka Dončić carries the physical toll of a demanding season

Luka Dončić carried a heavy workload throughout the season, often playing through physical challenges as the wear of the schedule accumulated.

Now sidelined for the remainder of the regular season, these images reflect moments when the strain of the year was visible as Dončić worked through injuries while leading his team.

Above, Luka Dončić of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on from the bench at the end of the third quarter against the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center on March 19, 2026, in Miami, Florida.

(Rich Storry, Getty Images)

Projected starting lineup and rotation

Starters

Rotation players

  • F/C Sandro Mamukelashvili

What to expect in 2026-27 season

JJ Redick has led the Lakers to back-to-back 50-win seasons but enters his third year as head coach with a bit more uncertainty and an almost entirely new supporting cast built around Luka Dončić. Rob Pelinka shelled out nearly $480 million, thanks to cap space created by LeBron James’ departure, to tailor the roster around the Slovenian superstar.

Pelinka and Redick made their offseason intentions clear during their press conference on Thursday: 1, Re-sign Austin Reaves; 2, acquire a franchise-level center; 3, get young guys who can dribble, pass and shoot. They checked all three of those boxes.

But with an overhauled roster come question marks, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

“To me, this has not been — and it never will be — a full rebuild around Luka in one offseason,” Redick told reporters. “That’s not the way the NBA works, and particularly with free agency the way it is now. But I like everything we did this summer to build around him, to build around AR, and to provide us with a ton of depth.”

Walker Kessler is “a perfect fit” alongside Dončić and Reaves, in Redick’s own words. He’ll step in as the best rim protector the Lakers have had since trading away Anthony Davis, but his acquisition from Utah came at a steep cost − what was left of their tradeable draft capital and a four-year, $129 million contract extension. Redick told reporters on Thursday that he plans to run a different defensive scheme this year and use Kessler in a way similar to how the San Antonio Spurs use Victor Wembanyama − keeping him close to the paint to clean up around the rim from one-on-one matchups around him.

The Lakers added depth, with Collin Sexton now running the offense of the bench. He should pair nicely with Mamukelashvili if the Georgian big man doesn’t crack the starting five as a power forward. The gaping hole at center has been filled. They have size now. Some solid defenders have also been added, such as Quentin Grimes and Matisse Thybulle, but they’re still lacking an athletic wing despite being linked heavily to Jonathan Kuminga throughout the offseason.

It’ll take time for these new-look Lakers to jell but if and when they do, their actual standing in the stacked Western Conference is still anyone’s best guess. Redick, on the other hand, feels good that they’ll have something to say about that.

“I’m confident we’re going to develop into a championship-level team this season,” he said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Los Angeles Lakers season preview: Lineup, roster and prediction

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