The Los Angeles Lakers fell short of expectations in the 2025 playoffs, losing in five games in the first round to the Minnesota Timberwolves. That was quite disappointing for a team that was touted as a contender entering the playoffs, but LeBron James‘ agent and CEO of Klutch Sports Group, Rich Paul, stated on Haynes Briefs that this roster wasn’t even close to being good enough to win it all.
“I just really didn’t think that the roster for the Lakers was anywhere close to a championship-type roster,” Paul said. “And that’s not making excuses. It’s just a fact. And it’s very hard to build a team for today and tomorrow.”
To say the Lakers’ roster wasn’t anywhere close might be a stretch. Sure, it had flaws, and you had reasons to believe they won’t win it all, but they were the third seed in the Western Conference with a 50-32 record.
The main concern when it came to the Lakers after they traded for Doncic was the lack of a starting-caliber big man. They seemed to have addressed that by acquiring Mark Williams, but later rescinded the trade due to medical concerns.
The Lakers’ title chances were somewhat written off post the trade deadline, but the team didn’t really miss a beat despite Jaxson Hayes being the starter. That led to a belief that perhaps they could really win it all.
The series against the Timberwolves showed, though, that the Lakers desperately needed a quality big man. Head coach JJ Redick had no trust whatsoever in Hayes, who averaged 7.6 minutes per game in the series, while the small-ball lineups didn’t prove to be effective either.
The closeout Game 5 would see the Lakers’ biggest issues exposed for the whole world to see. The much-maligned Rudy Gobert had the greatest game of his playoff career that night, finishing with 27 points (12-15 FG), 24 rebounds, and two blocks.
The Lakers ended up allowing 50.0 points in the paint per game in the series, the fourth-most in these playoffs. They kept allowing easy shots at the rim, and that’s not a recipe for success.
That series made it rather obvious that the Lakers’ top priority in the offseason had to be a center. GM Rob Pelinka shared what type of bigs they’ll look at, and it will be interesting to see who he manages to bring in. We listed out eight proven centers they could target, and all of them would be upgrades over Hayes.
Another big reason why the Lakers lost to the Timberwolves was the struggles of Austin Reaves. Paul had named Reaves as the Lakers’ x-factor in the series, and he didn’t make a positive impact.
Reaves averaged 16.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 0.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game against the Timberwolves while shooting 41.1% from the field and 31.9% from beyond the arc. He was reportedly playing through a toe injury in the last two games of the series, but didn’t perform well before that either.
There has now been some talk of shipping Reaves out of town, but that seems unlikely. Pelinka stated he is extremely confident in the trio of Reaves, James, and Luka Doncic and is backing them to deliver next season.
