Rob Pelinka quickly moved to secure Jake LaRavia as the first major addition of the Los Angeles Lakers' offseason. Whether LaRavia can return the favor and pick up the Lakers system just as quickly will be a pivotal aspect of the upcoming 2025-26 NBA season.
The Lakers' new sharpshooter will have a lot of key questions to answer in the new campaign with his new team. Jovan Buha was someone who highlighted how big of a swing factor this will be for Los Angeles on a recent episode of his podcast.
Buha said, "He's unproven in a serious situation. I am optimistic on Jake LaRavia and his potential. I trend more toward him working out and being a rotation guy. Is he a ninth man? Is he a seventh man? ... We don't really know yet what that's going to look like and how good he's going to be as a Laker."
With plenty of variables surrounding other rotational options like Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, and Jaxson Hayes, LaRavia will have his opportunity to ascend quickly with steady and reliable contributions. If that is the case, the Lakers will walk away feeling pretty good about their aggressive pursuit of the 23-year-old.
Jake LaRavia’s emergence would change everything for the Lakers
No one in Los Angeles needs reminding of how poor the playoff rotation looked by the time the Lakers got to Game 4 of their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Adding LaRavia, Deandre Ayton, and Marcus Smart was a wholehearted effort to address that.
Ayton and Smart are big-time gambles in their own right. With the former, it is about whether the character concerns can finally be put to rest in Los Angeles. With the latter, the conversation is mainly about health, and whether the defensive pest can stay on the floor consistently.
LaRavia's talking points are much simpler. It is about proving that his production can bring dependable value for a team trying to be a contender in the 2025-26 season.
LaRavia had show signs of that with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2024-25. The former first-round pick averaged 7.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists during 20.9 minutes per game. LaRavia shot 49.0 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from beyond the arc with the Grizzlies last season.
Despite that, and despite being a part of a team that was firmly in the playoff picture, Memphis was comfortable moving on. The Grizzlies sent him packing to the Sacramento Kings in a three-team deal that did not land them much in return.
The advanced statistics all suggested that Memphis was a better team with LaRavia on the court. The Lakers will hope to see the same type of results and leave the experience questioning why another playoff team would want to surrender that kind of impact so willingly.