How high can the Lakers go?
The Los Angeles Lakers officially enter a new era this season, with the keys fully handed to Luka Doncic following LeBron James's departure.
Since Doncic arrived in the shocking trade in 2025, the team has operated as a three-headed monster with Luka, LeBron, and the emerging Austin Reaves. Though they strung together successful stretches and looked like everything was clicking in March with all three relatively healthy and accepting of their roles, chemistry and roster issues, along with injuries, ultimately derailed their potential.
Now, LeBron is gone, and the Lakers’ front office spent the entire offseason rebuilding the roster to take advantage of Luka's strengths, bringing in Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Kevon Looney, Jaden Hardy, Ziaire Williams, and Matisse Thybulle.
Ceiling
The Lakers could climb as high at the third seed and potentially make the Conference Finals if all goes well.
Chemistry would have to instantly come together, a process that the team has tried to speed up during the offseason with players getting together for mini-camps ahead of training camp.
The potential is there with Doncic running the show, flanked by a clear second in Reaves, defensive standouts, enough shooting and playmaking, and a bruising center who will do much of the dirty work.
They aren’t as good as the San Antonio Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder, at least on paper, but they are in the same group as the Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, and Denver Nuggets.
If things go well in the regular season, there is no reason why they can’t create just enough separation to end up as the three seed. They’d have to get by both the Thunder and the Spurs to make the Finals, which will be a tough task, but maybe they catch a break and get by one in the second round, setting themselves up for a possible trip to the Finals.
Floor
If Doncic gets hurt, the wheels could fall off quickly. The team is built around him, and while Reaves is a good second in command, he’s never proven he can run an entire team when all the pressure is on him.
The Lakers have strong pieces, but those pieces are there to support Doncic, not carry things if he ends up missing time. Collin Sexton would ascend to the number two option offensively, and the team may have to rely too much on its defense.
They’re still good enough to win games, but they could easily fall to a Play-In spot and a quick first-round exit if Luka is unable to stay healthy.
