Grading Los Angeles Lakers' Offseason Moves So Far After Deandre Ayton Trade
The Los Angeles Lakers have executed their long-in-the-making summer plans to pivot away from paying LeBron James over $50 million a season and toward spending cap room on a roster built around All-Star Luka Dončić.
But how did it go? Did the team go all-in on an all-in-worthy combination of players, or are they (spoiler) at best third or fourth in the Western Conference like they were through the 2025-26 season?
The roster isn't complete yet. We'll give the front office some time to hit what's missing, but the initial take on the Lakers is a reasonably solid B-, closer to a C+ than a B+.
Walker Kessler Trade
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The Lakers have finally landed a young center, agreeing to an expensive sign-and-trade with the Utah Jazz. Kessler is a legit 7'2" defensive presence at the rim. He missed almost the entire 2025-26 season with a shoulder injury, but he should give the team a 25-year-old building block (his birthday is later this month) at a vital position.
The contract, per ESPN's Shams Charania, will span four years at $130 million, with an average of around $30.3 million per year. While expensive, it's not out of bounds compared to others at the position, such as Jarrett Allen, Jakob Pöltl, Evan Mobley and Chet Holmgren.
But Kessler is a binary center, typically used in drop coverage, and is exposed when forced away from the basket, either in the pick-and-roll or against stretch bigs. The Lakers don't have strong perimeter defense, and Kessler can only do so much—case in point: he was an elite rim protector throughout the 2024-25 season, while the Jazz were one of the worst defensive squads in the NBA.
The larger concern with Kessler is that the Lakers gave up the rest of their available draft assets. The franchise is going all-in with Austin Reaves, Dončić, and Kessler, but isn't on par with the elite squads in the Western Conference like the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs. The trio HAS to work because the cupboard is bare.
Ideally, the Lakers would have given Kessler an aggressive offer sheet, daring the Jazz to match, enabling L.A. to use its draft assets in trade to replace LeBron James. Clearly, fears that Utah would keep Kessler, leaving the Lakers without a starting big, won out.
Grade: B
Austin Reaves' Contract
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The Lakers always intended to bring Reaves back as Dončić's backcourt partner. A Dončić team needs its Kyrie Irving, a second creator who can drive the offense when defenses swarm, blitz and trap the Lakers' best player.
Reaves' contract didn't impact the team's salary-cap flexibility, taking almost $21 million as a free agent. After L.A. spends on other free agents, Reaves can ink his deal for up to the max. It's just surprising that the Lakers weren't able to get a slight discount on Reaves, perhaps by offering a five-year deal at a lower annual rate.
The Detroit Pistons were prepping a monster offer, so the Lakers reacted in kind. Considering Reaves went undrafted and has become one of the better combo guards in the league, four years, $185 million is a remarkable achievement.
The larger question for the Lakers centers on the Dončić/Reaves pairing, with athletes, size, shooting, and defensive skill to offset what the pair doesn't do as well. Los Angeles will put points on the board, but that will only go so far if they're giving up more on the opposite end.
Kessler is a positive step, but the rest of the roster doesn't achieve that aim, at least at this early stage, with decisions still in progress league-wide.
Grade: B+
Sandro Mamukelashvili Signing
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Mamukelashvili was on the B/R watch list for the Lakers as a strong get. The 27-year-old, 6'9" forward/center gives the Lakers a frontcourt creator and physical scorer. Mamukelashvili can help bust zones or overplays on Dončić and Reaves as the decision-maker in the short roll, getting the ball near the free-throw line with a potential advantage.
At $52 million over four years, Mamukelashvili's salary should start around $12.5 million, below the league's average player salary in, the $15 million range. He shot 38.9 percent from three-point range last season on 3.7 attempts, compared to Rui Hachimura's 44.3 percent on 3.9, and was blistering in the postseason—but the Lakers can run more actions through Mamukelashvili.
As the roster stands, Mamukelashvili is the backup center, though that's expected to change. The Lakers should want him at the five when it suits them, not as a necessity. Mamukelashvili is not thought of as a significant defensive force. His fit with the two scorers at guard is strong on offense, but he's not complementing them well on defense.
Grade: A
Quentin Grimes Signing
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Starting from near scratch as the Lakers revamped their bench, the team needed a third guard. Grimes fits the bill as a 26-year-old, 6'4" combo on a four-year, $60 million contract. Grimes spiked over a 28-game stint with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2024-25 after a trade from the Dallas Mavericks, averaging 21.9 points and 4.5 assists per game while shooting 37.3 percent from three-point range.
His numbers dipped last year in his role to 13.4 points and 3.3 assists per game, as the Sixers rightfully prioritized one of the best rookies in VJ Edgecombe. Grimes has shown that he can play defense when motivated, and that must be his focus, filling the Marcus Smart-vacated role, be it as a starter or reserve.
Grimes has a brief history of playing alongside Dončić with the Mavericks in Dallas. The chemistry between the team's trio of guards will be a vital part of the Lakers' identity this season.
Grade: B+
Collin Sexton Signing + Deandre Ayton Trade
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Deandre Ayton held the center position well for the Lakers last season. Cries for more ignore that the team was No. 3 in the West before Dončić and Reaves suffered injuries with about a month left in the regular season. Ayton was a key reason the franchise advanced past the Houston Rockets in the first round. In the second round, though, Oklahoma City was significantly better than the Lakers, and he couldn't outplay the Chet Holmgren/Isaiah Hartenstein combination as Victor Wembanyama did with the San Antonio Spurs.
While Kessler is a better long-term choice, given his age, Ayton was significantly less expensive. The Lakers are dumping his expiring $8.1 million salary to add an undersized combo guard, Hardy, not known for defense. He can shoot the ball, but he's certainly not backing up Kessler at center. There's no grade to offer until they address that hole, as the Lakers need a third starting-capable option to Kessler/ Mamukelashvili. Perhaps the pair of second-round picks coming with Ayton will help the Lakers solve that with another move.
And why Hardy if the team is signing 6'3" Collin Sexton in the same role as an undersized shooting combo guard? They more or less do the same thing, haven't built a reputation for defense, and are behind heavy-minute guards in Dončić, Reaves, and Grimes?
The priorities were wing defense, size, athleticism, and a backup center. The Lakers' are likely using their room mid-level exception at about $9.4 million to sign Sexton to a two-year deal. The team also has rookie Cameron Carr and Bronny James in the backcourt, though the latter could be moved to LeBron James' destination in free agency.
Grade: Incomplete
Letting All of Hachimura, Smart, Kennard, Hayes Go
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It's not like the Lakers were bad last season. The franchise advanced to the second round, which was the best-case realistic outcome in a conference with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. If moving on from James was inevitable, why let almost everyone else go, like Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard, and Jaxson Hayes?
The team loses significant shooting efficiency from Hachimura and Kennard. Hayes has yet to be replaced with a viable backup. They were far from perfect, but no players are. Will the Lakers expect stronger performances from Jake LaRavia, Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht and second-year forward Adou Thiero as the team's primary forwards?
The area that needed the most improvement got worse. The Lakers seem to be all guards, with a Kessler/Mamukelashvili frontcourt. The depth chart is vague and lacking. Losing continuity and prebuilt chemistry is recoverable with the right influx of talent, but that's not where the Lakers currently stand.
Was Sexton's age worth losing Smart, given how many winning plays the veteran provided for the Lakers last season? Does the team have enough draft capital or cap flexibility to address the roster holes?
Perhaps, but that's not a passing grade at the moment.
Grade: D
Moving on From LeBron, Whoever Made the Choice
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The Lakers needed to let the James Era come to a close. His still-brilliant skill set could help the team get to a certain point, but the priority must be maximizing the Dončić era, and that doesn't include LeBron.
Did the Lakers execute the best version of that? The roster holes are glaring, especially on the wing, at backup center, and in overall defensive ability. Kessler could be a foundational piece, but he's not enough to solve everything the Lakers don't do on defense. Coach JJ Redick almost always finds the best combination with what he's given to get stops, but that only goes so far, especially in the postseason.
The Lakers chose not to offer James a contract last summer, when he had a player option. For the first time in his career, he wasn't given whatever he wanted as a potential free agent. As much as Pelinka had said he hoped James would finish his career with the Lakers, he wasn't willing to offer a contract in 2025 and didn't come up with another $50 million.
James chose to come out first and say he was moving on, but the decision was mutual, spurred on by the Lakers' choices over the last couple of years. That doesn't make them the villain. After James' historic run with the franchise and brilliant career, it was time for something new.
Props to the Lakers for going that direction, but the franchise has a lot to prove to field a winner around its next superstar.
Grade: A
Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on X @EricPincus and Bluesky.
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