The Los Angeles Lakers have made a whole lot of new additions this offseason, but Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks isn’t impressed by the roster they have put together. Brooks was asked on content creator Neon’s stream if the Lakers are now better or worse following LeBron James‘ departure.
“Oh, Lakers are sweet,” Brooks said. “They are so sweet. They’re about to get… If Luka [Doncic] don’t average 40, [laughs].”
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The Lakers have notably brought in Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton, Kevon Looney, Ziaire Williams, and Matisse Thybulle this offseason. They also re-signed Austin Reaves to a four-year, $180 million deal and acquired the rights to Cameron Carr on draft night.
Luka Doncic will be leading the Lakers in this post-LeBron era, and that roster isn’t bad by any means. It isn’t close to being perfect either, though.
Despite acquiring a defensive anchor in Kessler via a sign-and-trade with the Utah Jazz, the Lakers are expected to struggle defensively. Doncic and Reaves, in particular, aren’t great on that end of the floor. The former did show improvement at points last season, but if we rank backcourts based on defense, they’re going to be closer to the bottom than the top.
As for the offensive end, this Doncic and Reaves pairing would be closer to the top. You’d expect them both to average over 25 points a night.
Doncic put up 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game for the Lakers in 2025-26. The Slovenian won the scoring title, and Brooks thinks he’ll need to score even more next season if this team is to be competitive. The 30-year-old sure seems to be looking forward to facing them.
Brooks did well against the Lakers last season, as he averaged 22.0 points on 56.3% shooting from the field in their meetings. The Suns won the season series 3-2 as well. In one of those wins, Brooks taunted James and trolled Doncic. You don’t want to poke the bear too much, though.
The Lakers players will undoubtedly hear Brooks’ comments. This is bulletin board material, and we all know Doncic loves to serve humble pie. He already isn’t Suns star Devin Booker’s biggest fan and might just drop some 40-point games when he faces them next season.
The Lakers’ Thoughts On Their New-Look Roster
As for what the Lakers think about this current roster, it’s not all positive. Team insider Jovan Buha revealed there was an acknowledgement that they might have taken a step back. To go with James, the Lakers have lost the likes of Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, and Luke Kennard, who were among their best role players. The messaging, though, is that the focus was on the longer-term vision.
Now, there is optimism about the offensive potential of this new roster, and the Lakers should be one of the best teams in the NBA on that end. The question is, can they be good enough defensively to the point where they can compete with the big boys in the Western Conference: the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder?
The answer to that question seems to be no. The Ringer’s Zach Lowe believes the Lakers have next to no chance of beating the Spurs or Thunder in a playoff series for the next couple of years. They would back themselves to prove the doubters wrong, but you wouldn’t fancy their chances of doing so.
