The Los Angeles Lakers entered free agency with a glaring need at the center position and found their guy in Deandre Ayton.
With a nucleus of point guard Luka Dončić, shooting guard Austin Reaves, small forward LeBron James, power forward Rui Hachimura, and Ayton holding it down at center, do the Lakers have a realistic chance of competing in the Western Conference?
From Luka Doncic to LeBron James, the LA Lakers Are Building an NBA Title Contender
To make anything of the Los Angeles’ chances of competing for a championship in the 2025-2026 season, you have to be brought back to the wee hours of February 2, 2025. On that fateful early morning (or night on the West Coast), the most significant trade in NBA history occurred between the Dallas Mavericks and the Lakers.
BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Three-team deal that includes Utah.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025
The trade included an all-world talent in the 25-year-old Dončić, the engine behind the Mavericks’ 2024 NBA Finals run, and Los Angeles center Anthony Davis, who was 31 at the time.
It quickly became a massively confounding trade from Dallas’ perspective; from the Lakers’ view, it was a genius move — regardless of how it would affect them for the rest of the 2024-25 season. Without Davis, they lacked a starting-caliber center on the roster.
And while that exact sentiment drew much buzz as the seemingly invincible duo of Dončić and James were defeated in five games by the gigantic Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round (including enduring a Rudy Gobert 27-point, 24-rebound performance in the closeout game), that was from a short-term viewpoint.
The reason for the trade was not for success last season. It was for every season moving forward. It was moving on from an aging, injury-prone big man to a transcendent MVP-caliber lead ball-handler.
And though injury-prone in his own right, Dončić just turned 26 in February and is right at the beginning of his prime. Davis, if he wasn’t out of it already, was certainly on the downturn.
The trade ultimately gave the Lakers one of the most valuable things an NBA franchise can have: a runway for years of potential success.
While the roster last season was incomplete, that’s a different story this season.
In the place of backup center Jaxson Hayes is Ayton, who was a key piece of the Phoenix Suns’ 2021 finals run and averages 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds in his seven-year career.
The 2018 No. 1 pick, Ayton had as much talent as any big man on the free agency market. From the moment he was bought out by the Trail Blazers, it was known that he and the Lakers would make a good fit.
Dončić has thrived with reliable pick-and-roll partners throughout his career, elevating athletic lob-catching centers in Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford to slipping slick behind-the-back passes for the popping Maxi Kleber (now his teammates in Los Angeles) for open triples.
Now with Ayton, who specializes in the short roll and stopping at the dotted line for his patented pull-up jumper, it will be a new way for Dončić to get his big man the ball. But considering he’s one of the niftiest, most creative passers the league has seen, he’ll find a way.
Ayton’s best years in the NBA were with future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul running pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll with him in Phoenix. He capitalized by averaging 16.7 points per game during his five-year Suns tenure.
His two years in Portland — and his departure from Phoenix — raised some red flags due to attitude and a questionable work ethic, but now playing on a two-year, $16.2 million “prove it” deal, he has plenty of reasons to be locked in to restore his market.
He has a player option for the second year of his deal, making him a possible free agent next summer with several teams expected to have loads of cap space.
On the wing is a four-time champion, MVP, and all-time leading scorer in James. Despite playing most of last season at 40, he was named to the All-NBA Second Team after averaging 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game. At this point, the longevity isn’t even a surprise, and there shouldn’t be any expectations of a major drop-off next season.
It’s easy to forget about Reaves, who had a career year last season in averaging 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game. He’s another player with plenty of motivation looking ahead to next offseason, where he’ll have an opportunity to decline his player option and test the open market.
But for now, he’s a Laker committed to being the best complementary piece alongside Dončić and James.
Rounding out the starting lineup is Hachimura, a 6’8″, 230-pound bruiser with a reliable 3-point stroke. He started 57 of 59 games played a season ago, scoring 13.1 points and grabbing 5.0 rebounds per game while converting 41.3% of his shots from deep. He’s a solid defender, using his physicality to manhandle opponents.
Undoubtedly, the Los Angeles defense will be its weak point. With two targets in Dončić and Reaves, the burden will be heavily placed upon Ayton to protect the rim at a passable level. In his career, he’s averaging just a block per game despite standing seven feet tall. He may have to reach heights higher than that to allow the Lakers to be even average defensively.
But it’s the offense that will drive the team. With two supercomputers on the floor in Dončić and James, Los Angeles should have every single answer to every coverage thrown at them. Each player outside of Ayton can stroke it from deep. Ayton is a solid presence down low, with every motivation in the world to have a monster season.
Barring injury, the Lakers have a chance to become one of the best offenses in NBA history and break several efficiency records. If that’s the case, they’ll give themselves an opportunity to compete with anyone in the West.
And with Dončić and James on the court late in the game, with Reaves patiently waiting as an overqualified tertiary option, they can’t be counted out.
