NBA Insider Reveals 2 Areas Where The 2026-27 Lakers Are Better Than Last Season

The Los Angeles Lakers went through a major roster transformation this offseason, and NBA insider Jovan Buha thinks there are two positions where the new-look team has clearly improved over last season.

Speaking on the Buha’s Block podcast, Buha compared the Lakers’ positional depth from last season to the current roster and identified point guard and center as two clear victories for the 2026-27 group.

“I have two clear wins for the 2027 group: the center position with the additions of Walker Kessler and Mamu, and the point guard position with the addition of Collin Sexton.”

“I have a clear win for 2026 with LeBron and Rui at the four. I think this is the one position the Lakers have clearly downgraded. This is why I, as well as many others, have been making the point for that fifth starter or that power forward slash big wing that the Lakers really need.”

“LeBron versus Jake and Ziaire, I’m sorry. I’m not going to entertain that even being a debate. It’s not a debate.”

“And then shooting guard and small forward are close. I think you could argue in either direction. If I had to split hairs, I would lean 2027 at shooting guard and 2026 at small forward.”

“I would say that 2027 gets the edge here. I’d probably give them three of the five positions as being better than last season. One position I think is a clear downgrade. One position is relatively close. I think it’s 3-2 or 4-1 advantage 2027.”

Point guard is a pretty clear choice. Luka Doncic is going to be the Lakers’ primary ball handler for the future, and Bronny James is also back. But the Lakers have replaced Gabe Vincent with Collin Sexton, and that gives the team another scorer and a secondary creator behind Luka.

The center upgrade is arguably even better. Last season, the Lakers mainly relied on Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes. This season, Walker Kessler headlines a revamped group that also includes Kevon Looney and Sandro Mamukelashvili.

Kessler provides the rim protection that the Lakers have desperately lacked for years, and the Lakers paid a massive price to acquire him, surrendering two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps before signing him to a four-year, $130 million contract.

The comparisons are a little bit complicated elsewhere.

Buha clearly thinks the Lakers won at the power forward position last year because they had LeBron James and Rui Hachimura. The Lakers now have Sandro Mamukelashvili, Jake LaRavia, Matisse Thybulle, and Ziaire Williams as potential options at the four, but none provide anything close to what LeBron’s impact was.

That explains why Buha continues to see a starting-caliber power forward or big wing as the most obvious Lakers roster need.

Shooting guard and small forward are considerably closer in this assessment. Buha favors the 2027 Lakers at shooting guard, as Austin Reaves is now joined by Sexton, Thybulle, and Cameron Carr, compared to last season’s Reaves, Marcus Smart, and Luke Kennard group. At small forward, losing LeBron James is very hard to ignore. Quentin Grimes, Ziaire Williams, and Matisse Thybulle give the Lakers more defensive options, but they can’t replicate LeBron’s scoring and playmaking.

While Buha might give this year’s Lakers squad an advantage, there are several doubts and criticisms about this year’s roster. Former NBA champion Iman Shumpert thinks that this year’s team will have to struggle throughout the season, and Luka will have to do some magic to get them into the playoffs late in the season.

Even Charles Barkley praised the Lakers roster but dismissed them as title contenders for the season.

There are some obvious concerns about the Lakers, especially on the defensive end. An anonymous Lakers executive thinks that if this team finishes top 20 in defense, that should warrant JJ Redick being a Coach of the Year candidate, which just shows how much the Lakers are lacking defensive specialists on this current roster.

Jovan Buha has identified that health is going to be the Lakers’ biggest factor for next season, as their playoff hopes last season were destroyed by Doncic and Reaves’ injuries.

Overall, the Lakers might not possess the star power they once had with LeBron, but this roster kind of seems younger, deeper at guard, and improved at center. Whether these upgrades are enough to compensate for losing one of their greatest players remains the much bigger question.