Before Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves suffered significant injuries on April 2, the Los Angeles Lakers proved they were close to a championship-caliber team by winning 16 of their previous 18 games. But their roster flaws got exposed in the second round of the NBA playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it is beyond clear that they still have work to do.
They will look to re-sign multiple free agents this summer, including LeBron James and Austin Reaves, but they also want to further build a team around Luka Doncic that would maximize him and be able to win it all. That, according to a report in The Athletic by Dan Woike and Sam Amick, means being aggressive and getting players who truly complement him.
“The promises made to Dončić and his representatives before he signed an extension with the Lakers weren’t to have one good month. And they weren’t to undertake a slow build, to count on marginal improvements built by continuity and internal growth. The plans were bigger.
“Those promises were to give him a locker room full of his type of players, to find him replicants, if not improvements, of the balanced roster he made a finals run with in Dallas in 2024 before the stunning trade that sent him west.
“‘The Lakers are on the clock,’ one league source said.
“Those priorities remain, according to league sources. There is a desire for better center play, true lob threats who mimic the skills of Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II (with cleaner injury histories). There is a desire for true two-way defensive players, wings with athleticism and energy on the defensive end and a sweet shooting stroke on the offensive side of the ball. And there’s a desire to lock in a long-term secondary playmaker next to Dončić.”
Reaves could be that secondary playmaker, if he agrees to a new contract that won’t break the bank, even though he has considerable defensive shortcomings and a relative lack of footspeed and athleticism.
The Lakers felt they may have found a center who is a lob threat when they signed Deandre Ayton last summer to a two-year, $16.6 million contract. But while Ayton played well at times, especially during the first round of the playoffs against the Houston Rockets, he was underwhelming too often, which has left Lakers fans clamoring for an upgrade. He can opt out of that two-year deal and become a free agent this summer.
The team only has so many trade assets it can realistically use, including two future first-round draft picks and the rights to its 2026 first-rounder, this summer. Since it needs plenty of help on the perimeter, which may entail bringing in more than one two-way wing, it may not be able to secure a substantial upgrade at the center position.
Since Doncic and not LeBron James is now the centerpiece of the Lakers’ franchise, he will undoubtedly be asked for his input on potential roster moves. He signed a three-year, $165 million contract extension this past offseason, and he can opt out of that deal in 2028 in order to then sign a supermax contract with L.A. But it may not be a foregone conclusion that Doncic will stick around with the team at that time, and therefore, it needs to keep him happy and give him his best shot yet at winning his first NBA title.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Report: Lakers want to build their roster around and for Luka Doncic
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
