{"id":195369,"date":"2026-05-14T19:55:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T23:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=195369"},"modified":"2026-05-14T19:55:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T23:55:03","slug":"major-changes-ahead-for-the-lakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/05\/14\/major-changes-ahead-for-the-lakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Major Changes Ahead For The Lakers, What Can the Do and Their Top Offseason Priorities?"},"content":{"rendered":"

To some, 2025-2026 was a successful season for the Los Angeles Lakers,<\/a> but not so much. One prevailing thought heading into the offseason is that the Lakers are unlikely to “run it back” with the same roster next season.<\/p>\n

Major Changes Ahead For The Lakers<\/h2>\n

“The Lakers\u2019 2025-26 season, in most measurable ways, was an unquestioned success,” Dan Woike and Sam Amick of The Athletic said<\/a>. “Despite some bad injury luck, the team exceeded its preseason win-total projections for the second straight year. They continued building an identity of toughness and resiliency under [JJ] Redick. And yet, according to team and league sources, running it back with a mostly similar roster isn\u2019t a palatable option.”<\/p>\n

Los Angeles finished fourth in the West, posting a 53-29 record and reaching the Conference quarterfinals. The Lakers’ 64.6% winning percentage is their best this decade and the second-best since 2010-11, behind only the 2019-20 campaign, when they went 52-19 (73.2%). Their playoff series win over Houston was their first under\u00a0Redick and the first time they had advanced past the opening round in three years.<\/p>\n

But the Lakers, who believed they were a championship-caliber team after acquiring Luka Doncic<\/a> at the 2025 trade deadline, finished 11 games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> and nine games back of the San Antonio Spurs<\/a>. Moreover, the Lakers went a combined 1-10 against the Spurs and Thunder. They lost all seven games to the Thunder, including being swept in the Western Conference semis and being outscored by 64 points, with five of those setbacks being by at least 18 points.<\/p>\n

Granted, injuries took their toll on the Lakers. Doncic didn’t play after injuring his hamstring on April 2, and Austin Reaves<\/a> only played 57 games, including six of 11 playoff contests. Also, the Lakers had the worst bench in the league.<\/p>\n

On the plus side, Doncic had an NBA MVP-type season, and LeBron James<\/a> didn’t show signs of slowing down at the age of 41. Reaves showed tremendous growth in the regular season, though the 27-year-old struggled in the playoffs. Rui Hachimura<\/a>, Marcus Smart<\/a>, Luke Kennard<\/a> and Deandre Ayton<\/a> stepped up their production in the playoffs. Bronny James<\/a> showed steady improvement throughout the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot to be proud of in terms of back-to-back 50-win seasons, but certainly nothing that we\u2019re satisfied about,\u201d Lakers director of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said at\u00a0<\/span>his annual end-of-season press conference<\/a>. \u201cThis is a market with championship expectations, and now begins the process for leadership here \u2014 JJ and myself \u2014 to deconstruct the things in the season that went well and then to look at the parts of the season that we can elevate and bring to the next level.<\/span><\/p>\n