It’s a big season for the Los Angeles Lakers as they enter without LeBron James for the first time in eight seasons, but still have championship expectations as they have put pieces who fit around Luka Doncic.

Since acquiring Doncic in the shocking 2025 trade with the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers have searched for one thing and one thing only: a complementary center.

After a deal for Mark Williams fell through at the 2025 trade deadline, Deandre Ayton was signed in the 2025 offseason, but he didn’t pan out the way the team had hoped.

Wasting no time in the 2026 offseason, the Lakers traded for Walker Kessler, a restricted free agent with the Utah Jazz, dealing unprotected first-round draft picks in 2031 and 2033, plus first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030 for the big man, and then signing him to a four-year, $130 million deal.

While Doncic is still the best player on the team, and Austin Reaves will be the second star, is Kessler the most important player?

The team is built around Doncic, with the Lakers giving him the big man he needs and surrounding him with defensive wings that provide athleticism or spacing.

If Doncic goes down, the entire operation could fall apart, but the Lakers are paying Reaves to carry the load next to, and without, Doncic.

If Kessler goes down, where does that leave the team?

Kevon Looney is the backup, and while he can still screen and rebound, he’s not the player he was during his time with the Golden State Warriors.

Kessler might be the key to the operation, as his screening and play underneath the basket, both offensively and defensively, will make life easier for Doncic and Reaves.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick mentioned that the team has done a lot of switching during his two years with the group, not necessarily by design, but out of necessity. With Kessler anchoring the middle, he expects to keep him closer to the rim to deter opponents from getting to the paint.

If Kessler is out or not as effective as they are hoping, it’s going to drastically change how the Lakers play.

The Lakers are betting big on Kessler, who is only 25 years old, but is coming off a shoulder injury that limited him to five games last season. On paper, he’s exactly the player they want and need, but he has a lot to prove with the pressure on him more than ever.