The Los Angeles Lakers have completely embraced a massive retooling in this year's offseason by bringing several new faces into the team. However, that also leaves them with major uncertainty about how they will fare for the upcoming 2026-27 NBA season.
On NBA Today, ESPN host Malika Andrews delivered a bold claim, noting that the Lakers and their longtime rival, the Boston Celtics, will be scrambling to compete for at least a top-six spot in their respective conferences.
"I see both of these teams [Lakers and Celtics] as having actually fairly similar paths," Andrews said in her discussion with Marc J. Spears, Dave McMenamin and David Dennis Jr. "They're both going to be fighting to be sort of in that top six, maybe in danger of falling out of that top six."
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Lakers face pressure amid offseason changes, end of LeBron James era
With the departure of LeBron James and several other key pieces like Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard, and others, the Los Angeles Lakers have fully committed to Luka Doncic by giving the Slovenian superstar a new-look supporting cast.
After landing a massive max contract extension with Austin Reaves, the Lakers seized the additions of Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton, Kevon Looney, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle, and Jaden Hardy.
Past reports have indicated that there is an acknowledgement within the Lakers that they have regressed this offseason amid major changes, and that the team is planning to build familiarity rather than fully contending for an NBA title next year.
With a much more intense competition against fellow Western Conference powers while sporting a newly rebuilt team, anticipation is simply off the charts for how the Lakers will perform in the forthcoming season.
So far, there should be optimism already. With Luka Doncic already fully healthy after his disastrous season-ending hamstring injury, the Lakers roster is set to fly to Slovenia for a four-day minicamp to build early chemistry.