The Los Angeles Lakers roster is taking shape after several big free agency moves, but NBA analyst Bill Simmons is far from impressed. While Simmons is an unabashed Boston Celtics fan, he is usually fair in regards to his praise and criticism of other teams.
Nevertheless, he didn't mince words about his opinion of the Lakers' offseason moves (starting at the 17:26 mark). "I'm just dumbfounded. I just don't get it," he said, questioning their decision-making. Moves that included trading for Walker Kessler and adding Colin Sexton, Quinton Grimes, and Sandro Mamukelashvili.
He has a point. It's an odd assortment of talent that mostly skews towards offense. The Lakers retooled their team around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, but they didn't necessarily tailor their team around their strengths.
The Lakers' offseason moves earn mixed reviews
The Lakers traded two firsts and two seconds for Kessler, for the privilege of paying him at least $30 million. He is an elite rim protector and rebounder. Nevertheless, he has struggled against San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama and Denver Nuggets 3-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
Kessler is an upgrade over Deandre Ayton but perhaps not enough of an upgrade to make them a contender. Still, he'll have to do a lot of heavy lifting to keep their defense afloat.
Sexton, Grimes, and Mamukelashvili aren't exactly great defenders. Neither are Doncic or Reaves. So what is the Lakers' plan?
The Lakers had limited free agent options this summer
Despite having $52 million in cap space entering the offseason, the Lakers probably weren't going to do much better than this. Perhaps the most questionable move was the Kessler sign-and-trade that cost them two first-round picks and two seconds.
This leaves them with dangerously few draft assets—just one pick swap and three seconds. That combined with their major question marks defensively means they are basically married to a core of Doncic, Reaves, and Kessler.
If we had to rank every team's big three in the NBA, they probably wouldn't have a top-5 core. That isn't necessarily a deal breaker, but their supporting cast isn't all that good.
The best-case scenario is that they are a top-4 team in the West, but few would put them ahead of the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver Nuggets. If that is the case, then Simmons is absolutely right to be critical of the Lakers.
