Walker Kessler got the headlines this summer, but two veterans are the additions that could quietly change how Los Angeles plays.
The Walker Kessler sign-and-trade was the splash of the Lakers' offseason, a four-year, $130 million commitment that cost unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 plus two swaps.
It was the move that eats up every headline, which is exactly why the rest of the summer has gone underrated.
Los Angeles also lost LeBron James, Luke Kennard, Rui Hachimura, and Marcus Smart in free agency, and the front office answered by signing two guards who fit the new shape of this team.
Quentin Grimes agreed to a four-year, $60 million deal, and Collin Sexton came in on a two-year contract signed with the room mid-level exception.
Neither move led a news cycle, but both are going to show up in wins.
Real Production at a Fair Price
Start with the numbers, because they hold up.
Grimes averaged 13.4 points in 75 games for Philadelphia last season, and at an average of $15 million a year the Lakers are paying a fair market price for a starting-caliber guard.
Sexton might be the better bargain, since he averaged 15.4 points on 48.5 percent shooting last season while hitting 40.1 percent from three, and his career mark sits at 18.3 points a game.
A mid-level deal for that level of scoring is the sort of value contending teams usually miss out on, and it is the clearest sign that the front office shopped for production instead of shopping for names.
With Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves carrying the main creation load, Sexton gives the second unit a ball-handler who can attack a bent defense, and Grimes gives the starters another reliable wing who does not need touches to help.
There is also a locker-room piece here.
Sexton and Kessler played together in Utah, and Sexton says the two have built a strong relationship over the past four or five years, with both coming from the Atlanta area.
"I feel like the culture here is trying to bring good guys in who are ready to compete each and every night and give it their all," Sexton said.
That is what a rebuilt supporting cast is supposed to sound like.
Why This Changes the Lakers' Ceiling
The picture gets clearer when the roster is viewed as one piece.
Carlos Yakimowich has already ranked the most likely playoff outcomes for this group, and depth guards are usually what separate the good outcomes from the bad ones.
Kessler protects the rim, Kevon Looney adds another big body behind him, and there is still a chance the front office is not finished, with Jonathan Kuminga being predicted to land in Los Angeles before camp.
If that happens, the Grimes and Sexton signings look even smarter, because cheap, dependable guard play is what lets a team spend big elsewhere.
The Lakers replaced departed stars with fit and depth, and that trade-off wins more nights across 82 games than people think, because seasons are decided as much by the fourth quarter of a random road game as by anything the stars do in May.
By spring, these two contracts could be the ones every other front office wishes it had signed.
