What are the Lakers Doing?

This isn't really related to any Dallas news, but since the Lakers now have Luka Dončić, it’s worth discussing the team that has taken one of the strangest paths in free agency that I’ve personally ever seen. After their first-round exit against the Timberwolves, the Lakers had massive holes to fill. Their bench scoring—or any productivity at all—was next to nonexistent. Jackson Hayes was their starting center. If Rudy Gobert is putting up a 27-point, 24-rebound game, you know you've got serious issues at the five.

Heading into free agency, the Lakers clearly needed a center, a point guard who can defend, and a few more 3-and-D players to complement both LeBron and Dončić. To their credit, they signed Deandre Ayton—who, despite public criticism, will absolutely provide more productivity than Jackson Hayes. At the very least, he’ll grab more than six rebounds a game. But outside of Ayton and signing Jake LaRavia, the rookie from Sacramento, the Lakers have done very little to build a championship-caliber team.

In fact, they’ve publicly stated that they are saving cap space for 2027. The only question is: why?

With LeBron set to retire in a year and Luka due for a new contract in 2026, and with the addition of Deandre Ayton, why aren’t the Lakers pushing all their chips in now? Why play it safe for 2027?

They have the pieces and potential to become the best team in the West. As evidenced by the 2024 Mavs, there’s a proven formula to building a championship team around Luka Dončić. They have the cap space to do it—LeBron’s pay cut has opened up new possibilities to attract talent. After all, who wouldn’t want to play alongside one of the greatest players of all time and one of the most gifted offensive players in recent memory?

The 2025 offseason fiasco highlights why the Lakers have struggled since their 2020 playoff run: their front office is one of the worst in the league.

Since 2020, the Lakers have consistently failed to sign free agents who either helped them or fit their system. Whether it’s underperformance or poor roster fit, the front office has missed repeatedly. One reason the Lakers failed to get past the Nuggets was their lack of a reliable backup center to take pressure off Anthony Davis. Davis, aging and injury-prone, was expected to be a focal point on offense while also guarding Nikola Jokić—one of the most dominant offensive forces of this generation. That just wasn’t sustainable. Davis couldn't maintain consistency under that workload, and the Lakers fell to Denver twice.

Historically, the Lakers haven’t signed free agents well. Most of their big-name players have either been drafted or acquired through trades. Their front office failed to support LeBron and AD—and they’re doing the same with Dončić now. Forget about LeBron for a moment. You have one of the greatest offensive players in the league right now, and instead of surrounding him with a solid supporting cast, you’re punting two years?

The logic behind the Lakers' approach to this offseason is puzzling, to say the least. If they don’t capitalize on the opportunity in front of them, it’s likely they’ll waste the golden years of Luka Dončić—just as they wasted the tail end of LeBron James’s career.