GSW LAL LAC LAL LOS UTA POR LAL LAL LAC LAL GSW TOR LAL MIA LAL LAL SAC POR LALHead Coach
JJ Redick
Assistant Coach
Trainer
Founded
1948
City
Los Angeles
Arena
Crypto.com Arena
G-League
South Bay Lakers
Governor(s)
Mark Walter & Jeanie Buss
General Manager
Rob Pelinka
| Player | # | POS | Height | Weight | Birthdate | Age | Exp | School | How Acquired |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur Kaluma | — | F | 6-7 | 225 lbs | Mar 01, 2002 | 24 | R | Texas | Signed on 07/25/25 |
| Adou Thiero | 1 | G | 6-7 | 220 lbs | May 08, 2004 | 22 | 1 | Arkansas | Draft Rights Traded from BKN on 07/06/25 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt | 2 | F | 6-8 | 214 lbs | Apr 03, 1999 | 27 | 8 | Kentucky | Traded from UTA on 02/09/23 |
| Matisse Thybulle | 4 | G-F | 6-5 | 202 lbs | Mar 04, 1997 | 29 | 7 | Washington | Signed on 07/27/26 |
| Dalton Knecht | 4 | F | 6-6 | 215 lbs | Apr 19, 2001 | 25 | 2 | Tennessee | #17 Pick in 2024 Draft |
| Quentin Grimes | 5 | G | 6-5 | 207 lbs | May 08, 2000 | 26 | 5 | Houston | Signed on 07/07/26 |
| Jaden Hardy | 7 | G | 6-3 | 198 lbs | Jul 05, 2002 | 24 | 4 | NBA G League Ignite | Traded from WAS on 07/07/26 |
| Bronny James | 9 | G | 6-2 | 210 lbs | Oct 06, 2004 | 21 | 2 | Southern California | #55 Pick in 2024 Draft |
| Collin Sexton | 10 | G | 6-3 | 190 lbs | Jan 04, 1999 | 27 | 8 | Alabama | Signed on 07/11/26 |
| Ziaire Williams | 11 | F | 6-9 | 185 lbs | Sep 12, 2001 | 24 | 5 | Stanford | Signed on 07/19/26 |
| Jake LaRavia | 12 | F | 6-7 | 235 lbs | Nov 03, 2001 | 24 | 4 | Wake Forest | Signed on 07/06/25 |
| Walker Kessler | 14 | C | 7-2 | 245 lbs | Jul 26, 2001 | 25 | 4 | Auburn | Traded from UTA on 07/08/26 |
| Austin Reaves | 15 | G | 6-5 | 197 lbs | May 29, 1998 | 28 | 5 | Oklahoma | Signed on 08/03/21 |
| Chris Mañon | 30 | G | 6-4 | 209 lbs | Dec 09, 2001 | 24 | 1 | Vanderbilt | Signed on 07/24/25 |
| AK Okereke | 31 | F | 6-7 | 244 lbs | Jul 02, 2003 | 23 | R | Vanderbilt | Signed on 07/03/26 |
| Cameron Carr | 43 | G | 6-5 | 175 lbs | Nov 21, 2004 | 21 | R | Baylor | Draft Rights Traded from NYK on 06/24/26 |
| Sandro Mamukelashvili | 54 | F-C | 6-9 | 240 lbs | May 23, 1999 | 27 | 5 | Seton Hall | Signed on 07/07/26 |
| Kevon Looney | 55 | F | 6-9 | 222 lbs | Feb 06, 1996 | 30 | 11 | UCLA | Signed on 07/12/26 |
| Luka Dončić | 77 | F-G | 6-8 | 230 lbs | Feb 28, 1999 | 27 | 8 | Real Madrid | Traded from DAL on 02/02/25 |
Total Points
Kobe Bryant
33,643
Total Assists
Magic Johnson
10,141
Total Rebounds
Elgin Baylor
11,463
Total Blocks
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
2,694
Total Steals
Kobe Bryant
1,944
Championship Wins
1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2020
Conference Titles
1972, 1973, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2020
Division Titles
1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2020, 2025, 2026
Competing in the Pacific Division, with the Lakers based in Los Angeles, the Lakers are one of the most glamorous and successful teams in sports history, but the story that no one saw coming a year ago begins this year. Following 22 seasons, four championships and over a decade as the face of the Lakers franchise, James' Lakers rights in free agency were waived on July 27, 2026 and he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Lakers have been without him for the first time in 2018.
What remains is, in some respects, cleaner than what the Lakers had for years, and the back half of the trade is an unquestionable part of the mix, too, as Luka Doncic is clearly the face of the franchise, with a retooled supporting cast featuring an Ayton/Henry swap, a high-dollar sign-and-trade of Walker Kessler and a complete overhaul of the draft night signing of rookie wing Cameron Carr. The second season, coach JJ Redick is in with a team that definitely differs from the one he walked into as a replacement.
It's time to get a little comprehensive, since there's plenty to discuss on both sides of the coin: the Lakers as a franchise, and what has changed since 2026-27.
The Los Angeles Lakers began in 1947 as the Minneapolis Lakers, before moving to Los Angeles in 1960. In the decades that followed, the team became one of the most well-known and successful franchises in sports, known for its star power and expectations for championships. The franchise's record of 17 championships is just as significant and is tied with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers for the most among teams in NBA history, and is mentioned by fans and analysts the next time the discussion comes to the Pacific Division's all-time contenders.
Some of the most iconic names in the franchise are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, all of whom have helped shape the Los Angeles Lakers brand for generations of fans. The Franchise history is relevant because the Lakers have a history of just 17 championships and no time for rebuilding years. After Doncic was acquired by the front office in one of the most stunning trades in NBA history, they believed a 20-something perennial MVP candidate can define the next era, and that's why LeBron's departure from the Heat isn't being called a typical turnaround, but rather a real turnaround.
The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most famous and successful teams in the NBA, often associated with star power and championship aspirations. It impacts not only how the front office makes trades and manages free agency, but how the coaching staff constructs their offensive and defensive schemes.
As Doncic's second season as head coach approaches, head coach JJ Redick will be tasked with creating an offense that makes the most of Doncic's signature strengths — pick and roll, side-to-side ball movement and allowing Doncic to operate as a half-court starter rather than forcing him into the role as an off-ball man.
Rivalries also create a national perspective of a franchise. The Los Angeles Lakers' most memorable competition is with the Boston Celtics, who always bring a brimming level of interest to the slate and certainly get on any Lakers fan's calendar.
2025-26 was a transitional year in all aspects. The Lakers were getting used to a Doncic-James lineup that never had the chance to get a full run before the looming free agency of James, while the front office started to lay the groundwork for a Doncic-only lineup. Ownership also shifted to Mark Walter, who has been fully in charge of the franchise since then; a role that has influenced this offseason's trade and cap management aggressiveness to say the least.
The Lakers are in their retooled state when they enter the 2026-27 season with a real superstar. This isn't a rebuild; Doncic doesn't play that role; but it doesn't qualify as a finished product either. The front office sold its long-term matching talent in Ayton, Collins, Hachimura and brought in team-friendly complementary players for the short term in Kessler, Grimes, Sexton, who they need to go into debt to Utah for in the draft. It's a "win now, don't completely pass up the future" play, and where that equilibrium lies is the crux of the season.
This season is significant because it is the first legitimate vote on the post-Lebron Lakers. Will Doncic be able to carry a franchise as James has done? Will this lineup be deep enough to beat around the bushes in the loaded West? The Lakers are 2026-27 loaded with no lottery excuses and without their bread and butter — only a team that must perform on the court.
JJ Redick is head coach of the Lakers for his second full season since being hired in June 2024 without any NBA coaching experience. His first season was about figuring out how to turn an old, defense-first team into a defense-oriented one; his second season is about how to make the offense a good fit for Doncic.
On the defensive end, Walker Kessler, an elite rim protector, is a great addition to give Redick a legitimate defensive anchor for the first time in many years, meaning he'll be able to run a more aggressive perimeter defense up top.
What to Watch: Redick will have a difficult time finding any room to maneuver the floor around Doncic and Kessler—and Kessler isn't a big shooter, which might limit their ability to find driving lanes to shoot if the wing rotation (Grimes, Knecht, Reaves) isn't getting hot enough.
The Lakers didn't keep a 2026 second round pick, but instead gave up goaltending No. 56 (Vsevolod Ishchenko) in exchange for some cash on draft day.
The perimeter shooting and shot creating from the bench are one of the biggest needs of the roster, and that's exactly what Carr does. Reaves and Grimes will be hit with heavier lead-guard reps while Doncic will be the man in control and able to press the button on Carr without the ball. He is a development project and not a year 1 starter, but his shooting profile should take off quicker than most year 1 starters.
| Move | Type | Expected Impact |
| Walker Kessler (sign-and-trade from Utah) | Trade | Starting center, first real rim protector in years |
| Deandre Ayton → Washington for Jaden Hardy + 2 second-rounders | Trade | Offloads a redundant big, adds a bench scoring guard |
| John Collins → Detroit (six-team trade) | Trade | Clears a frontcourt logjam, saves long-term money |
| Quentin Grimes (from Philadelphia) | Free Agent | 3-and-D wing depth, secondary shot creator |
| Sandro Mamukelashvili (from Toronto) | Free Agent | Frontcourt depth, stretch-five insurance |
| Collin Sexton (from Chicago) | Free Agent | Backup point guard scoring punch |
| Kevon Looney (from New Orleans) | Free Agent | Veteran rebounding and screen-setting off the bench |
| Austin Reaves | Re-signed | Retains a proven secondary/tertiary shot creator |
| LeBron James → Philadelphia | Departure | Loses a Hall of Fame forward and locker-room anchor |
| Rui Hachimura → LA Clippers | Departure | Loses frontcourt scoring depth |
| Marcus Smart → Houston | Departure | Loses veteran perimeter defense |
Roster fit analysis: The net result of the offseason is that the Lakers have sacrificed size, name recognition and rim protection in exchange for youth, shooting and quickness. Kessler gets the Lakers to fix the interior defense issue that haunted the LeBron era, but the price is high, as it means trading away multiple future Lakers first-round picks and giving Utah swap rights to one of its future first-round picks. In addition to the lack of James' playmaking, Grimes and Sexton are secondary options, not in the same vein as James.
It's a real depth here but not proven, as Sexton, Grimes and Carr all have to perform at expected clip when Doncic is sitting on the bench or else the Lakers will likely experience the score drought they endured in years gone by with that backcourt member.
LeBron is now out and Doncic is the clear No.1 choice and face of the franchise for the first time. Expectations: an MVP-level usage, a deep playoff run and that he can be a true No.1 without a partner like James.
Reaves assumes a bigger role in playmaking and making shots than ever before. Career assists and usage will probably be his career goals as the obvious No. 2 option.
Kessler has to prove he has the value he was paid for by holding the defense at a top-10 level and being able to create enough offensive threat (screening, lobbing) that it doesn't create a mess around the rim.
Carr, the No. 1 pick on the draft night, will be closely watched as he starts to develop, as early signs of his shooting mirroring his NBA range would take some pressure off the wing rotation.
The swing piece is Quentin Grimes. If he can continue to play like a true 3-and-D second option with a knack for creating shots, then the Lakers have a viable top-six rotation around Doncic. He has been more of a specialist role player, and when the Lakers are down, it's obvious how much scoring power he's missing. Best case: Grimes becomes a legitimate All-Defensive caliber wing with a combined three-point percentage of 38%+ from three-point range. Worst case scenario: He's a No. 2 option and the offense just can't move with him out of the game..
The Los Angeles Lakers are a Pacific Division squad in one of the most competitive squads in the Western Conference. The playoff seeding, home-court advantage and, since the play-in tournament was added, a team's guaranteed postseason berth or being locked out after play-in games are all dependent on the divisions and/or conferences. If we look at the Lakers' performance strictly against their divisional opponents, it's much easier to get a feel for how the post-LeBron squad is doing than simply reviewing their regular-season statistics.
Kessler leads a top-10 defense, the shooting around Doncic starts right away, and the Lakers get a top-6 seed without having to play in the play-in, and they have a top-4 seed pushed to the first round.
There are spacing problems around Kessler that slow the offense, the bench scoring deficit made up by LeBron is too big, and the Lakers miss the playoffs entirely or fall into the play-in bracket in a deep Western Conference — it's a possibility this season.
Realistically, no — not in 2026-27. The Western Conference is still full of bigger, older players to compete, and the Lakers took a loss of a Hall of Fame second, but did not fully replace that level of two-way, closing-time production. Doncic can go deep into the regular season and maybe a playoff series or two, but he doesn't have a lot of high-leverage secondary creation skills, which is what it takes to win a title. The more honest description: The Lakers are not a playoff or play-in team just making a player change around the top-five edition this season.
In the NBA, every season has its own change in roster makeup, coaching approach and health, which can impact a team's course well before the playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers have a number of storylines to keep an eye on:
Rosters and coaching staff change through the year and so does the situation when injuries happen, so don't take anything that happens during the preseason for granted — the best way to know how the Lakers will perform is to watch the box scores and the schedule as the season unfolds.
As with all NBA teams, the Lakers will face 82 games of regular season action before the playoffs are decided. That burden is evenly distributed between conference opponents, with additional contests with Pacific Division foes, and a rotating schedule of interconference contests, including marquee Celtics rivals. Every regular season game counts for a franchise with 17 championship banners on its record: The home team for the sixth overall seed will receive home-court advantage, and the margins between the sixth and play-in round can be as narrow as a few points in a handful of divisional series contests.
There are identifiable phases in the season:
If you are a new Laker in 2026-27, knowing about the history of the franchise isn't just a fun fact; it's how the current roster is covered and discussed. This is because a franchise with 17 NBA championships has its expectations raised, to a degree, over one that is still working toward its first: the standards of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are used to measure every season. You know that there's a reason why LeBron James' departure and the shift to a Doncic-heavy lineup is getting a ton of national attention, and it's because, for a franchise that has won this many trophies and has this little patience for a step back, losing a Hall of Fame teammate is a real event, not an everyday occurrence.
It also helps make the Boston Celtics feud more significant to Laker fans in particular, as the rivalry has been around for decades and has a playoff pedigree that is far more significant to a fan than a newer one.
For those who are monitoring the Lakers' post-LeBron transition "betting-wise," one of the Philippines' top sports betting sites Sports OKBet provides and offers markets for the entire Lakers story this season — both championship and Western Conference odds, as well as season totals, and player awards markets such as Most Improved Player, which could see Austin Reaves winning given his expanded playing role. Betting on the game-by-game aspect is also on offer for those who want to watch Doncic and the revamped team game by game. Remember to always bet responsibly and with insight into any betting market.
The 2026-27 Lakers are a completely different outfit than the one that played a year ago, in terms of age, shooting emphasis, defense strength and, most importantly, no two superstars to balance out Luka Doncic, and a 17-championship legacy that ensures that expectations are always high. The season should be considered a step-up campaign: a legitimate playoff or play-in campaign to see if this particular formula — Doncic, shooting and one defensive anchor — is the right one to stick with, or if more changes are necessary before the Lakers can begin to seriously consider being a playoff or play-in team again. The best that can be reasonably hoped for is a winning season with a second-round defeat – an improvement, but not a successful team. Follow the season of the Lakers one night at a time and stay updated with on-going betting information and odds offered on the website Sports OKBet throughout the season.
It was founded in 1947 as the Minneapolis Lakers, moving to Los Angeles in 1960.
The LA Lakers have 17 NBA championships, which is tied for the 2nd Most in NBA history.
The Los Angeles Lakers are based in Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles.
The LA Lakers play in the Western Conference Pacific Division.
Boston Celtics is the most iconic rivalry in the history of the Los Angeles Lakers.
JJ Redick is back to coach the Lakers for a second season following a broadcasting and playing stint.
The Lakers took Baylor guard Cameron Carr with the No. 24 pick of the draft, a result of a trade they made with the New York Knicks on draft night.
The most significant signing is center Walker Kessler, who was signed-and-traded from Utah, as well as free-agent signings Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Kevon Looney.
Yes. The Lakers forfeited LeBron James' rights and James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers on July 27, 2026, leaving the Lakers without him.
The projected starters include Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht, Jarred Vanderbilt and Walker Kessler, but rotation questions might still be in flux before the game.
Yes, it's a possibility that Doncic will get a playoff or play-in spot with his individual talent, but the depth of the Western Conference hardly guarantees he becomes the top-6 seed.
But the difference in Doncic's offense and a significantly improved interior defense with Walker Kessler.
Sourcing information: Historical facts (founded, championships, arena name, rivalries) are from official NBA franchise history as compiled by OKSports Editorial Team Francaise Guide series. Draft, trade and roster information from NBA.com's transaction announcements, the 2026-27 NBA transactions log on Wikipedia and Spotrac's roster/cap data, as of August 2026. Analytical projections: Win totals, lineup order, best/worst case scenarios are all projections not definitive.
