There seem to be two different perceptions of what the Los Angeles Lakers have done as far as remodeling their roster this summer after losing LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes in free agency. Some have praised general manager Rob Pelinka and the rest of the front office for landing Walker Kessler, one of the NBA’s best defensive centers and an excellent rebounder, as well as guards Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton, big men Sandro Mamukelashvili and Kevon Looney and wings Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle.
But another group of people feels like those moves are very underwhelming. The way they see it, the Lakers grossly overpaid for Walker Kessler by giving up two future first-round draft picks and two pick swaps while giving him a four-year, $130 million contract. Those same people think L.A. erred by giving up almost all of its limited draft capital to get Kessler and that it did nothing to address its other big weaknesses.
That was the sentiment expressed by ESPN analyst Zach Kram, who gave the team a C+ grade for the offseason, at least so far.
“The Lakers might have been the busiest team of the summer. But did all that activity make them better, or were they merely running in place?
“… Put another way: Of the top seven Lakers in playoff minutes this spring, the newly extended Austin Reaves is the only player still on the roster. He, Luka Doncic and Kessler form a strong three-man core. But the Lakers now have one of the NBA’s weakest forward groups, a glaring hole at backup center and almost no remaining draft assets to trade after giving up a haul for Kessler, who has never really played a meaningful NBA game.
“The Lakers mostly did well with depth signings such as Thybulle and Williams. But it’s hard to overcome not replacing James’ production, even in his 40s. They have less flexibility now, and it’s hard to say with confidence that they’re any closer to title contention.”
Of course, the Lakers aren’t any closer to title contention than they were a month ago. But was getting closer to title contention at all realistic, given all the roster needs and holes that were created by the players they lost in free agency, on top of their existing needs for two-way wings and an upgrade at the 5?
Grimes has a chance to be one of those two-way wings if he defends and hits 3-pointers at a high enough level. He and Sexton can also go a long way in helping to replace the 20.9 points and 7.2 assists a game James gave Los Angeles last season, even if they won’t fully replace that production.
Looney could still have enough left in his tank to be an adequate, if not a solid backup center. Even though he had a rough 2025-26 campaign and appeared in just 21 games for the New Orleans Pelicans, he still averaged 5.6 rebounds in 14.7 minutes a game, which is in line with his career average of 5.7 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per game.
The Lakers are now well on their way to building a championship team around Doncic. Of course, taking the last step or two will be the hardest part, but they now have more functional depth and less dead weight on their roster than they have in at least five years.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: How did ESPN grade the Lakers’ offseason moves?
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire | USA TODAY Network
