A huge change is coming to the Lakers organization.
The Los Angeles Lakers announced Thursday that they are relocating their G League affiliate from South Bay to the Coachella Valley, where the team will be rebranded as the Coachella Valley Lakers beginning with the 2026-27 season.
The franchise is leaving the UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo for Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, a venue that seats more than 11,000 fans and already hosts the AHL's Coachella Valley Firebirds.
That is a massive upgrade from South Bay's setup, where they could barely fit 1,000 people for games.
Why It Makes Sense
The Los Angeles Lakers finished the 2025-26 regular season at 53-29 and are battling the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs.
The parent club is thriving, and the development pipeline that feeds it deserves a bigger stage.
The G League team went 26-10 this past season and earned the top seed in the Western Conference.
That pipeline has produced results.
The franchise has recorded 60 NBA call-ups across 38 players since 2006, including Austin Reaves, who averaged 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game this season before going down with an oblique strain in the playoffs.
Bronny James also spent significant time with South Bay during his first two professional seasons on a two-way contract, and those reps played a big part in his growth.
The Lakers have deep ties to the desert dating back to the Showtime era, when Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the Ocotillo Lodge in Palm Springs and held training camps there with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
A permanent basketball presence in one of Southern California's fastest-growing markets feels like a natural extension of that history, and Acrisure Arena gives them a legitimate home to build around.
The Potential Downside
The biggest concern is distance.
El Segundo sits right next to the Lakers' main facilities, which made it easy to move players between the G League and NBA roster on short notice.
Palm Desert is roughly two hours away, and that creates a logistical gap that did not exist before.
When a call-up happens mid-week, the old proximity was an advantage most organizations did not have.
There is also the question of whether a G League team can draw fans in a region known more for golf and music festivals than professional basketball.
The Lakers are locked in a playoff series that has the full attention of the league right now, and the Coachella Valley will be watching from a distance rather than feeling connected to the action.
Still, the organization is betting on the upside.
Season ticket deposits opened Thursday starting at $100 per account, and the Los Angeles Lakers brand carries weight wherever it goes.
Whether the Coachella Valley can become a real basketball town is still an open question, but the Lakers are clearly willing to find out.