Without LeBron, the Lakers’ season might start with some easier decisions, more Luka ball, more Ayton touches, and a Reaves prove-it stretch.I wrote about past blueprint(s) & reason for short-term optimism. But also the long-term questions looming👇https://t.co/ORNnspLshL pic.twitter.com/LARlnN8ghH— Iztok Franko (@iztok_franko) October 10, 2025
If there’s a silver lining to any of this is that we’ll get a good long look at a few things:
-How well Luka and Reaves play w/o LeBron on both ends (not going to look at last season, I think we were close to .500 w/o LeBron…?)
-What a line up of either Luka, Reaves, SMart, Rui and Ayton looks like or a line up of Luka, Reaves, Rui, and Vando looks like. Hard for me to see Jake snag a starting spot but it’s possible, I guess.
-How the defense looks without LBJ captaining it, which his main role last season.
I truly don’t mind them treating James gingerly, especially out of the gate. Gives Luka a chance to really insert himself as the focal point, get some early MVP chatter going and so on. If this lingers much past early November though it could become troubling.