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  1. FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

    4-How the West’s top 10 are built (and what changed in the offseason)

    Los Angeles Lakers

    Primary creators: Luka Dončić

    Primary scorers: Austin Reaves

    Secondary playmakers: Marcus Smart

    Secondary scorers: Deandre Ayton

    Low usage role players: Jake LaRavia, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jaxson Hayes

    Offseason changes and 2025–26 outlook: I included both the 2024–25 Lakers playoff roster and the current 2025–26 version in this overview because the team’s offseason changes feel significant. The obvious issue last postseason was a lack of size, but an equally important—and less discussed—flaw was the lack of skill around their three main stars. Every role player who logged meaningful playoff minutes landed in the low-usage role player archetype, mostly specialists limited to catch-and-shoot or rim-rolling duties. That kind of one-dimensionality is increasingly out of step with where the league is going. Today’s contenders are leaning into a “generalist” model—role players who can check more than one of the following boxes: shoot, pass, dribble, drive, or create something off the bounce. Deandre Ayton is a much more skilled and versatile scorer than a one-dimensional lob threat like Jaxson Hayes. And Marcus Smart adds a level of toughness and secondary playmaking that Gabe Vincent and Jordan Goodwin simply couldn’t provide in the playoffs. In my player deep-dives, I described both Smart and the third offseason addition, Jake LaRavia, as connectors. And while LaRavia technically fell into the low-usage role player cluster, a closer look at some of the advanced stats from that deep-dive—and from this classification—shows he has a more diverse offensive game than players like Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent or Rui Hachimura.

    Both Ayton and Smart come with big question marks and plenty to prove next season, including how their more well-rounded offensive games will fit into a Lakers ecosystem built around three ball-dominant stars. But that challenge isn’t just on them. J.J. Redick, along with Dončić, James, and Reaves, will need to find a better balance—ideally moving toward a more egalitarian offense that doesn’t box newcomers into narrow specialist roles.

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