For the Los Angeles Lakers to build a contender around Luka Doncic, they'll need to play the long game. As difficult as this may be for some Lakers fans to hear, there aren't any realistic scenarios in which the Lakers put together a roster this summer that is ready to win a championship in 2026-27.
The Lakers simply have too many roster holes to fill -- and not enough cap space to work with -- to arrive at a 2026-27 depth chart as sturdy as that of the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs.
However, give Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka two, three, or even four transaction cycles, and he might be able to arrive at the kind of depth needed to contend.
The Lakers can and should model their roster construction after the '26 Knicks
Look at how the New York Knicks built a championship roster over two or three seasons -- not in a single offseason. Signing Jalen Brunson back in 2022 was the first huge step, but they didn't turn into a contender right away -- far from it. Within a year, the Knicks traded for Josh Hart. About a year and a half after that, they traded for Mikal Bridges, and, a few months later, Karl-Anthony Towns.
An important bench piece like Jose Alvarado came even later (this past season's trade deadline). In essence, the Knicks pulled off a three or four-year plan that saw them add one or two pieces each season and maintain the flexibility to do just that. It was a "slow build", sure, but isn't pretty much every title team? Recent champions like the Thunder, Celtics, and Nuggets were knocking on the door for multiple years before breaking through, building their rosters all the while.
The Lakers should do for Luka Doncic what the Knicks did for Jalen Brunson
The Knicks are a good comparison for the Lakers and a good blueprint for LA to follow because of the way that they've constructed a defensively capable roster around Brunson. Like Brunson, Luka is a defensive liability of sorts and thus requires athletic wing defenders around him.
The Knicks provided Brunson with a roster around him that hides his flaws and allows his rare gifts to shine. The Lakers need to do the same for Luka if they want to be a contender, and that work starts this summer.
But it doesn't end this summer! And that's the part that Lakers fans need to be patient about. LA was a 53-win team last season, and JJ Redick is ahead of schedule in his development as a young coach. This team might not need four years to make the Finals (like the Brunson-era Knicks did), but it's not going to happen right away, either. Patience will be key.
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