The Los Angeles Lakers will begin and end most possessions with either Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves on the ball. It's by no means a bad strategy, but it's a fact that enters into the realm of the extreme and unsustainable given how ball dominant they tend to be.
Thankfully, the Lakers' imperfect signing of Collin Sexton signaled progress toward becoming less predictable and more balanced on offense.
Sexton is a polarizing player who has tremendous per-36 production and frustrating periods of tunnel vision that have come to define his career. That may be the exact reason, however, that the Lakers brought Sexton in on a multi-year deal.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Lakers signed Sexton to a two-year, $19 million contract that includes a second-year player option.
Sexton's new Lakers deal includes a player option, sources said, after being finalized by CAA Sports' Austin Brown and Max Saidman. https://t.co/D5OquUhDkc
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2026
Though it's fair to question if the player option was a wise decision, the Lakers seem to have a clear intention in mind with signing Sexton: Ensuring they don't overdo it with Doncic and Reaves.
Collin Sexton is the downhill scorer Lakers need to diversify offense
In 2025-26, Doncic ranked No. 1 in the NBA in usage rate at 36.8. That put him clear of the No. 2 player, Jaylen Brown, by 1.7 percent. He was 4.2 percent above the No. 3 player, Kawhi Leonard. That alone reveals the Lakers' need for capable ball handlers and shot creators.
Reaves wasn't all that far behind with a usage rate of 25.8 despite the fact that Doncic was a ball-dominant No. 1 and LeBron James had a usage rate of 26.2.
The Lakers don't need Sexton to rival James and Reaves' respective marks from the 2025-26 season. What they're undoubtedly lacking, however, is players who can step up in on-ball roles and provide value that justifies taking the ball out of the stars' hands.
More than justifying the decision to diversify the offensive attack, the Lakers needed a player who has proven willing to assert themselves. Sexton is exactly that.
Collin Sexton can diversify the Lakers' offense
Sexton isn't just a talented player in his athletic prime, but one of the most productive scorers south of the All-Star line. He boasts career averages of 18.3 points, 3.6 assists, 2.7 rebounds, 0.8 steals, and 1.5 three-point field goals made per game on .472/.389/.841 shooting.
This past season, Sexton shot 51.7 percent on 9.5 drives per game while shooting an elite 44.5 percent on catch-and-shoot threes.
Sexton takes questionable shots at times and can stall the flow of the offense with his individual pursuits. That's not a pure negative in this case, however, as the Lakers needed a guard who could come in and make it a point to put points on the board independent of Doncic and Reaves.
If nothing else, Sexton checks those very boxes with proven production and value as a scorer who can create their own offense.
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