Rich Paul made headlines during the offseason for loudly stating that his client, LeBron James, wanted to be on a contending team during his final years in the NBA. Paul remains unconvinced of the Los Angeles Lakers qualifying to be in that category.
In the first episode of the new show featuring Paul and Max Kellerman, James' agent doubled down on the Lakers still needing more to truly have a chance at winning the title. The ceiling of the current roster in Los Angeles came under scrutiny.
Paul said, "I personally don't think the Lakers are good enough to be contenders right now. ... I don't think they have enough to get to the Western Conference Finals. ... That style of play, it's gonna be very easy to guard when you get to the playoffs."
The pair agreed that the Oklahoma City Thunder were in a class of their own in the West. For Paul, the Lakers lacked length, shooting, athleticism, and speed. That is something they can overcome during the regular season, but not in a playoff environment when there is more scouting going on.
Lakers' roster holes are painfully obvious to everyone — including Rich Paul
Perhaps outright dismissing the Lakers as contenders is wrong. However, the roster needs pointed out by Paul are not without merit.
Selecting Adou Thiero in the 2025 NBA Draft was an open admission of the Lakers needing more length and athleticism on the roster. The rookie wing is not quite ready to run with the top group just yet, making that need still relevant for the short-term of this season.
Adding more shooting has stood out as a pressing concern for the majority of the campaign thus far. Luka Doncic has been unable to properly operate at the rim because of the shortcomings in that department. The Lakers are only hitting 35.8 percent from 3-point, ranking 17th in the NBA.
Questioning the speed of the roster is also fair. The Lakers play at a pace of 99.98. That ranks them among the slowest teams in the NBA, all the way down at 22. The two teams who appeared in last year's NBA Finals ranked second and third in pace during the NBA Playoffs.
In short, Paul is not wrong in his assessment of the things that still need improvement for Los Angeles. The real question is how valid those issues are in preventing the Lakers from being a true threat in the 2026 NBA Playoffs.