Lakers embrace title-contending expectations entering Luka Doncic era

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The Lakers expect to be a title-contending team in 2026-27.

And they aren’t shy about sharing those hopes after a transformative offseason.

Their expectations of being a championship-level team don’t just stem from the fact they have 17 banners hanging in the rafters at their El Segundo practice facility and at Crypto.com Arena.

Or the fact they have one of the NBA’s best players on their roster in Slovenian superstar guard Luka Doncic.

It centers around the belief coach JJ Redick has in the team’s roster reconstruction and the fit of the group around Doncic, star guard Austin Reaves and marquee free-agency acquisition Walker Kessler.

The Lakers are aware of the external narrative surrounding them.

The doubts of whether they can truly contend with the best of the Western Conference.

But they’ve seen enough over the last couple of months to believe they can achieve more with this group than outsiders expect by developing into a championship-level team.

Rob Pelinka, Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager, threaded the needle on those expectations last month by saying the Lakers are on “the path of being a really competitive championship-level team” while also saying “building a championship roster is an evergreen process.”

Redick was more direct with his thoughts.

“That is an ongoing process throughout the year,” the Lakers coach said. “Rob talks about his job in that. Well, I have a job in that. Our players have a job in that. I’m confident we’re gonna develop as a team into a championship-level team this year.”

The sentiment is shared by the most consequential players on the Lakers’ roster.

Doncic is eager to make a deep playoff run after leading his former team, the Mavericks, to the 2024 NBA Finals and the 2022 Western Conference finals.

A severe hamstring injury ended his 2025-26 season early without him being able to play in any of the Lakers’ 10 playoff games in the spring. And the year prior, the Lakers were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs within three months of trading for Doncic.

The six-time All-Star is looking to get back to playing on the biggest stage.

And the entire team knows where his mind is at.

Doncic isn’t shy about wanting to win the league’s MVP honors for the first time in his career. But he’s also made it clear that team success comes first.

“I mean, realistically, I would say championship,” Doncic said. “If that’s not your goal, I don’t know what you’re doing here. As an individual, MVP, obviously I would like to have that one day. But that [doesn’t] come if the team’s not good. First is [the] team, then [the] individual.”

The Lakers believe — truly.

They believe in their coach.

That Doncic and Reaves can lead them to becoming a great offensive team.

That Kessler will fortify their interior on both ends of the floor.

That their wing depth — which includes Quentin Grimes, Ziaire Williams, Jake LaRavia, Matisse Thybulle, Adou Thiero and Cameron Carr — will complement their Big 3 on both ends of the floor and elevate the defense.

The Lakers believe when spring rolls around, they’ll compete with the league’s best teams.

Now, they have the fall and winter to prove it.

“I believe so — no question,” Kessler said. “Undoubtedly. We have a lot of great tools and a lot of versatility. The guys are already getting along. Connection makes championship teams.

“We definitely could be a contender.”