The Los Angeles Lakers added much-needed depth during the offseason, bringing in a host of new players to ensure competitive position battles during training camp.

Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, who signed a four-year, $180 million contract extension, are back to run the show, this season without LeBron James, who departed for Philadelphia.

Flanking them will be new faces Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Kevon Looney, Jaden Hardy, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle, and rookie Cameron Carr. 

Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht, Adou Thiero, Jake LaRavia, and Bronny James are all returning as well.

With fresh faces and new depth, how do the Lakers’ positions stack up?

Doncic, Reaves, and Sexton make by far the strongest group of any position that the Lakers have on the roster. Hardy, Bronny, and Carr provide depth behind those three.

Thybulle and Grimes could be considered guards as well, though it’s suspected they’ll spend time playing the three, with Grimes potentially starting at small forward.

Even without Thybulle and Grimes, any positional group that has Doncic and Reaves is going to be the strongest positional group. Much of the Lakers’ success this season is going to be determined by this group.

Doncic will be an MVP candidate while Reaves has to prove he can be the second option over the course of an 82-game season. Sexton could make a run at Sixth Man of the Year as his offensive numbers should pop.

Kessler is the third-best player on the team, and the Lakers paid a premium price to get him, trading multiple first-round picks to the Utah Jazz and then signing him to a four-year, $130 million deal.

Behind him is Looney, though Mamukelashvili will play as a small-ball five who provides five-out spacing. The inclusion of Mamukelashvili in this group strengthens them as the second-best positional group on the team.

Kessler was the big addition in the offseason, and his health and how he fits next to Doncic and Reaves is the X-factor for the Lakers’ season.

Vanderbilt, LaRavia, Knecht, Williams, and Thiero is by far the weakest group for the Lakers. If you add Mamukelashvili, Grimes, and Thybulle, this group becomes stronger, but still lacks the star power that the team has at the guard position or the anchor at center.

There is depth to the group when the positions move a bit, and certain players have the chance to establish themselves as starters at the three and four as the season plays out.