The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to get back into championship contention and have built a roster around superstar Luka Doncic that they believe gets them closer to that goal. Doncic has made it to the NBA Finals before, leading the Dallas Mavericks there in 2024, though they would fall in five games to the Boston Celtics.
There are some who question this Lakers roster and whether it can compete at the highest level with the best teams in the league. But NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley believes this Lakers team is just as good as the Mavericks squad Doncic led to the Finals.
“I really want to see the Lakers do well,” Barkley said on the Bill Simmons podcast. “First of all, I’m a big Luka fan, a big Austin Reaves fan. I think they’re gonna be better than people realize. Luka and Kyrie took the Mavs to the Finals, come on, man. This team is probably better; this team is probably just as good as that team.”
There are certainly some similarities in terms of roster construction. While not as individually talented as Irving, Reaves can operate in that role as the secondary creator and he and Doncic have shown they can dominate together. Center Walker Kessler is objectively a better player when healthy than Daniel Gafford or Derrick Lively Jr., while Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton are both upgrades over the other guards on that Dallas team as well.
The question for this Lakers team will be on the wings and forward positions. PJ Washington and Derrick Jones Jr. were crucial to the Mavericks run, particularly on the defensive end, and the Lakers will need some players to step up whether it be new players such as Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams, or a young guy like Adou Thiero.
The landscape of the league is undoubtedly different than it was in 2024 with the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs at the top of the Western Conference. But this Lakers team is going to be competitive every night with Doncic leading the way and many are already recognizing that the front office put together a better roster than some have realized.
Lakers still eyeing roster upgrades on the wing
The Lakers’ front office also recognizes that this team could still use upgrades on the wing and reportedly are not done looking for potential moves to make ahead of the start of the season.
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