The San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder were the two clear-cut best teams in the Western Conference last season, and the Los Angeles Lakers are among those looking to be part of that group. The Lakers have made some interesting moves in free agency as they look to challenge in the post-LeBron James era, but The Ringer’s Zach Lowe doesn’t think they have what it takes to beat the Spurs or the Thunder.
Lowe shared his concerns regarding the Lakers on the latest episode of the Zach Lowe Show.
“They look like a team that has next to no chance to beat the Thunder and the Spurs in a playoff series in the next two to three years,” Lowe said, via NBA Base. “And almost no outs at all to change their team other than maybe trading Austin Reaves in a year or two when this doesn’t work. I don’t think the moves are like horrendously bad.
“The Lakers were trapped in a situation of use it or lose it cap space and a superstar who is a year away from potentially trying to exert a lot of pressure or able to exert even more pressure,” Lowe continued. “And they needed a center. This is an unbelievable reach for Walker Kessler, who I think is good, but is for this amount of money being paid like a proven All-Star center. It’s not a proven All-Star center.
“I think he will look very good with Luka [Doncic],” Lowe added. “His rim defense is legit. He’s got to improve as a screen setter and a rim runner, but I think there’s something there.”
The Lakers’ biggest move was landing Walker Kessler via sign-and-trade with the Utah Jazz. They were in desperate need of a center and got Kessler for unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 and first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030. The Lakers also gave him a massive four-year, $130 million deal.
Lowe sees this kind of investment in Kessler as a risk. The 24-year-old has never even come close to making an All-Star team. Still, Kessler has all the tools to succeed with the Lakers. He is also going to play with Luka Doncic, who gets more out of big men than probably any other guard in the NBA.
Kessler is the kind of defensive anchor you want when you have Doncic on the team, and all of this is why the Lakers went all out for him. They don’t have any tradeable first-round picks over the next seven years now, though, and have commited $480 million to these two and Austin Reaves.
To go with Kessler, the Lakers have acquired Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Collin Sexton. These are solid pieces, but Lowe doesn’t think this roster is good enough to challenge the two heavyweights in the West.
“The rest of it is like Sexton’s an interesting bench guy,” Lowe said. “Grimes is an interesting bench guy. I don’t even know who the other two starters on the team are, other than Reaves, Luka, and Kessler… The combination of the fourth and fifth starter and the bench is like Sexton, Grimes. Is Mamu the starting power forward? The guy who could barely play in the first round of the playoffs.
“Jarred Vanderbilt is still here,” Lowe continued. “[Deandre] Ayton is here as the backup center. [Cameron] Carr, they just drafted. They’ll be good because Luka is that good, and Reaves is a really good second banana, and I think Kessler will fit well. I’m not saying the Lakers are going to be bad. They’re going to be good.
“I just look at them like, I don’t know how that is supposed to compete for like a Western Conference championship now, in two years, in three years,” Lowe added. “… To have that be the roster and be completely tapped out of cap space and draft picks going forward… I was taken aback.”
Lowe expects the Lakers to keep coming up short, and their only out in a couple of years would probably be trading Reaves. Time will tell if he’s right.
Doncic is reportedly excited by the Lakers’ signings, though, so he might be thinking he can lead this group to glory. He led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2024 and would be dreaming of getting back on the big stage in 2027.
