The Los Angeles Lakers' offseason officially began on Monday night as LA was swept out of the second round by the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Lakers head coach JJ Redick, when asked by ESPN's Dave McMenamin what the gap is between the Lakers and a championship team, didn't really provide much of an answer.
"That's what we've got to figure out this offseason," Redick said, per McMenamin. "[But] I take a lot of pride in our players ... and what we turned out to be."
In Redick's defense, it's not his job to retool the Lakers' roster this summer. That burden falls on the shoulders of Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, who has a long list of to-do's sitting on his desk. Overall, he must address the Lakers' biggest problem: depth.
Rob Pelinka has a massively important Lakers offseason staring him in the face
First and foremost, one would think that Pelinka should sort out what's going to happen with LeBron James and Austin Reaves. This comes before dealing with the depth issue. LeBron is entering unrestricted free agency, making his future unknown. Reaves is in line for a new max deal from the Lakers.
But even if LeBron returns (Reaves certainly wants him to), the Lakers need far more than just their star trio to make 2026-27 a different kind of season than 2025-26 was. Pelinka needs to find an upgrade at the center position (Jalen Duren? Jarrett Allen?), and he also needs to add more defensive versatility on the wing, ensuring that Luka has enough support around him and doesn't get exposed defensively moving forward.
You can fully expect Pelinka to be all-in on Denver Nuggets wing Peyton Watson (entering restricted free agency), and other targets like New Orleans Pelicans wing Herbert Jones could come into play this offseason.
Should the Lakers bring back Luke Kennard?
Pelinka also needs to figure out what he's going to do about Luke Kennard, who is a free agent. The Lakers have reportedly been pleased with Kennard's performance and are interested in bringing back the sharpshooter, but at what cost? Once Pelinka signs Reaves to a huge new contract, and if/once LeBron re-signs, how much cap space will LA actually have? What the Lakers cannot do is run back a similar roster to what was put on the floor this past season.
Pelinka certainly has his work cut out for him. While Redick should take some time to decompress and reflect on the season that was, Pelinka's "season" really starts right now.
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