No team underwent bigger changes in the offseason than the Los Angeles Lakers.

Last season, the Lakers were led by a superstar trio of LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves. The trio got them all the way to the fourth seed in the Western Conference and the second round against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

If not for injuries to Doncic, who missed the final month of the season and the entire playoffs, and Reaves, who missed the final month of the season but returned late in the first round, the team may have gone further.

The offseason brought about massive changes as LeBron James, Luke Kennard, Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, Deandre Ayton, and Jaxson Hayes have all departed.

The Lakers front office didn’t sit around to find replacements, bringing in Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Kevon Looney, Jaden Hardy, Ziaire Williams, and Matisse Thybulle.

They don’t have the star power that they did last season, but they are a better team. It doesn’t mean they are going to have a better season or go further in the playoffs, but on paper this team is built for more sustainable success.

In the last two seasons, head coach JJ Redick was down to six or seven players he trusted in the playoffs. In the 2025 playoffs, he played the same five players the entire second half of an elimination game.

The Lakers have lacked depth since acquiring Luka Doncic, but that’s changed this season.

They have a plethora of backcourt options, and though most of them are specialists, they each bring something different to the court. Sexton will be a secondary creator, while Grimes, Hardy, Williams, and Thybulle all bring varying degrees of shooting and defense.

Their frontcourt might be thin, but Kessler and Mamukelashvili are high-quality rotation players to go along with Jake LaRavia, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Looney.

Most importantly, it’s now a team more suited to highlight the strengths of Luka and cover for his weaknesses.

The biggest concern for the Lakers is how quickly the chemistry comes together and the health of Luka.

If Luka goes down, Reaves becomes the top option, and there is no LeBron James to carry things. As long as Luka is healthy, they should be in a good position throughout the season.

The chemistry will take the majority of the season to build, and it’s why it’s even more important that Luka stay healthy, because he is the key to everything.

They might only be minimally better, but they are still better.