This is the point of the offseason where the hindsight takeaways are going to be coming out in full force. For the Los Angeles Lakers, Collin Sexton is going to find himself right in the middle of one today. In retrospect, the Lakers lost an opportunity to land their starting forward due to him.
Where the hindsight comes in here would be the fact that for the better part of the summer, the Lakers confidently believed they could bring in Jonathan Kuminga. Naturally, that did not work out. Kuminga chose the Minnesota Timberwolves for reasons he is still defending to this day.
Rob Pelinka may have felt confident about eventually landing Kuminga via sign-and-trade, and that would have given him early justification to use the room exception on Sexton. The new Lakers guard inked a two-year, $19.2 million contract to join Los Angeles as a result.
With how things played out, signing Sexton that quickly now looks like a missed opportunity for the Lakers to firmly lock up their new starting lineup early. $9.6 million per year would have been more than a fair share to offer a starting-caliber forward.
That puts even more pressure on the Sexton signing to work out.
Lakers could have paid a starting forward what they gave to Collin Sexton
There is reason to believe Sexton could prove a worthwhile addition for the Lakers. The second unit has lacked scoring production for a while in Los Angeles. Their new guard will help solve that.
Sexton is also someone who is capable of operating well both with and without the basketball. That makes him malleable on the offensive end when subbing in beside either Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves.
All of that is great. It just isn't a starting forward.
When joining the Third Apron Podcast, Jovan Buha pointed out an excellent candidate to have secured at the forward spot for comparable money to what Sexton got. That would be Kelly Oubre Jr.
That is someone who would have immediately locked up a starting spot and have been a great fit for Los Angeles. Oubre's defense on the wings would have been perfect for this team. His 3-point shot has been shaky at times throughout his career, but coming off a career year of shooting 36.0 percent and getting plugged into an offense with Doncic, that is an easy risk to take.
If not Oubre, then Dean Wade stands out as someone who got a similar annual average to Sexton as well. Granted, the Philadelphia 76ers gave him more long-term security with the years of that contract.
Ultimately, this is still a defensible course of action for the Lakers. Sexton may even prove himself worth it by the end of 2026-27. The problem is that this conversation weighs a sixth or seventh man against a well-fitting starting forward. There should be a clear preference there.
Even in the case of Sexton delivering strong production in the upcoming season, the player option for 2027-28 makes him a flight risk. Adding up those variables would give anyone more than enough reason to do a hard double take on how this all went down.
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