The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder are expected to be the class of the Western Conference, but there is a path forward for the Los Angeles Lakers to go on a deep Finals run.
Everyone in the NBA has their targets set on the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, but only a handful of teams actually blew up their rosters to compete with them long-term.
In 2025, just as the Spurs were starting to emerge, the Los Angeles Lakers shed their aging core, swapping Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic. While Doncic doesn't match up with Victor Wembanyama as well as Davis does, the trade gave the Lakers a cornerstone to build around during Wemby's prime.
This summer, the Lakers lost LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Deandre Ayton, Jaxson Hayes, Luke Kennard, and Marcus Smart, and added Walker Kessler, Ziaire Williams, Quentin Grimes, Jaden Hardy, Kevon Looney, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Collin Sexton.
That's still a far cry from the Spurs and Thunder, although Los Angeles has a clear path towards contention.
How Lakers Can Compete With Spurs, Thunder
The NBA seems to have an idea as to how to stop Wembanyama: throw tall players his way. The Lakers added Kessler to be a "Wemby stopper," although the core of their attack does not involve defense.
Rather than trying to beat Wembanyama directly on either end of the floor, the Lakers are hoping that their offense will simply be too good for other teams to keep up with.
Scoring engines like Doncic, Grimes, and Austin Reaves will carry the load of the offense. LA isn't interested in copying the Spurs and is instead playing its own style.
"Certainly, if you're the Lakers, the way you're not going to win is by trying to play like the Spurs or by trying to play like the Thunder or the Knicks or the Celtics," said The Athletic's Dan Woike.
"That's not the roster you have. And quite frankly, it's not the roster you can get. It's not there for you. What you can do, the one thing you can do, is you can give your best player the best possible pieces around him and kind of go from there. I think they took big steps in that direction this summer. It is an incomplete process. They have some pretty big holes still."
When Doncic was in Dallas, the Mavericks paired him with wing defenders, a secondary playnaker/scorer, and a lob threat. Kessler is the new Daniel Gafford. Reaves is the new Kyrie Irving. Williams, Grimes, and Hardy are the new PJ Washington, Naji Marshall, and Derrick Jones Jr.
The Lakers aren't expected to be in the same tier as San Antonio or Oklahoma City next season, but as every team in the league tries to build a one-for-one copy of the top dogs, the Lakers are building their own identity.
