Originally published by LakersNation.com
The roster for the 2026-27 Los Angeles Lakers looks very different from the one that ended last season. Rob Pelinka, JJ Redick and the Lakers’ front office rebuilt everything around superstar guard Luka Doncic with multiple important pieces from last year gone.
LeBron James is the biggest name to depart this summer, but Rui Hachimura, Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard amongst others are also no longer with the team. In their place, the Lakers brought in center Walker Kessler via trade, along with the likes of Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton, Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle while also re-signing Austin Reaves on a new four-year deal. And Redick is excited about the roster they put together and what this team can become when speaking about it for the first time.
“I think we’ve always tried to give our players clearly defined roles, and I think with this group, probably the first time in my three years here that I feel like the pieces actually fit together, and so those roles probably get even more crystallized,” Redick said at his annual preseason press conference.
“I’ll give you the wings, like there’s a very clear ask for you to be able to play, and if you don’t do those things, then you’re not going to play. That’s just the reality. We’ve already had some of those conversations this week with our players. We have high, high confidence in these guys that they’re going to buy into that. So it’s going to naturally create a lot of healthy competition, and everybody at some point inevitably will get a chance to impact our team and impact winning.”
The addition of Kessler, in particular, has Redick excited, but he is already pleased with what he’s been seeing from the team as a whole in workouts.
“I think first of all it starts with having that center in Walker,” he said. “It’s why we valued him the way we valued him. I think we have great wing depth, and I’m really excited for camp to start next week and for us to go through the preseason process. There’s a lot of minutes, there’s starting spots that are up for grabs. I think we’re going to have a highly competitive camp. We’ve been in the gym in small-group workouts and guys have been playing pickup for the last six weeks, and obviously five of those days were the Slovenian trip, but it’s been a highly competitive gym. I think we have enough perimeter defense.
“We have plenty of shooting and plenty of ballhandling. To me, this has not been — and it never will be — a full rebuild around Luka in one offseason. That’s not the way the NBA works, and particularly with free agency the way it is now. But I like everything we did this summer to build around him, to build around A.R., and to provide us with a ton of depth.”
There are certainly some questions still surrounding this roster, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, but Redick has proven that he can put together some great schemes and with Kessler down low the Lakers have the best rim protector they’ve had on the roster since Anthony Davis.
Whether the Lakers have enough to compete with the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs at the top of the West remains to be seen, but Doncic and Reaves have shown that they are one of the best offensive duos in the NBA.
The Lakers added some players who could thrive in an expanded role with the purple and gold, not to mention young players such as Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero who could develop into important pieces as well making this squad one of the most intriguing in the league.
Luka Doncic ‘desperately’ wants to win championships with Lakers
Of course, the ultimate goal for the Lakers is always to win a championship and that is the case for their superstar as Doncic recently reiterated his desperation to win a ring with the purple and gold.
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
The roster for the 2026-27 Los Angeles Lakers looks very different from the one that ended last season. Rob Pelinka, JJ Redick and the Lakers’ front office rebuilt everything around superstar guard Luka Doncic with multiple important pieces from last year gone.
LeBron James is the biggest name to depart this summer, but Rui Hachimura, Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard amongst others are also no longer with the team. In their place, the Lakers brought in center Walker Kessler via trade, along with the likes of Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton, Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle while also re-signing Austin Reaves on a new four-year deal. And Redick is excited about the roster they put together and what this team can become when speaking about it for the first time.
“I think we’ve always tried to give our players clearly defined roles, and I think with this group, probably the first time in my three years here that I feel like the pieces actually fit together, and so those roles probably get even more crystallized,” Redick said at his annual preseason press conference.
“I’ll give you the wings, like there’s a very clear ask for you to be able to play, and if you don’t do those things, then you’re not going to play. That’s just the reality. We’ve already had some of those conversations this week with our players. We have high, high confidence in these guys that they’re going to buy into that. So it’s going to naturally create a lot of healthy competition, and everybody at some point inevitably will get a chance to impact our team and impact winning.”
The addition of Kessler, in particular, has Redick excited, but he is already pleased with what he’s been seeing from the team as a whole in workouts.
“I think first of all it starts with having that center in Walker,” he said. “It’s why we valued him the way we valued him. I think we have great wing depth, and I’m really excited for camp to start next week and for us to go through the preseason process. There’s a lot of minutes, there’s starting spots that are up for grabs. I think we’re going to have a highly competitive camp. We’ve been in the gym in small-group workouts and guys have been playing pickup for the last six weeks, and obviously five of those days were the Slovenian trip, but it’s been a highly competitive gym. I think we have enough perimeter defense.
“We have plenty of shooting and plenty of ballhandling. To me, this has not been — and it never will be — a full rebuild around Luka in one offseason. That’s not the way the NBA works, and particularly with free agency the way it is now. But I like everything we did this summer to build around him, to build around A.R., and to provide us with a ton of depth.”
There are certainly some questions still surrounding this roster, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, but Redick has proven that he can put together some great schemes and with Kessler down low the Lakers have the best rim protector they’ve had on the roster since Anthony Davis.
Whether the Lakers have enough to compete with the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs at the top of the West remains to be seen, but Doncic and Reaves have shown that they are one of the best offensive duos in the NBA.
The Lakers added some players who could thrive in an expanded role with the purple and gold, not to mention young players such as Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero who could develop into important pieces as well making this squad one of the most intriguing in the league.
Luka Doncic ‘desperately’ wants to win championships with Lakers
Of course, the ultimate goal for the Lakers is always to win a championship and that is the case for their superstar as Doncic recently reiterated his desperation to win a ring with the purple and gold.
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
