{"id":415075,"date":"2026-07-28T11:31:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T11:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/415075\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T11:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T11:31:33","slug":"who-cares-about-lebrons-departure-lakers-are-better-without-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/415075\/","title":{"rendered":"Who cares about LeBron’s departure? Lakers are better without him"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LeBron James<\/a> has decided this time, he\u2019s taking his talents to Philadelphia. <\/p>\n

The Lakers<\/a> couldn\u2019t be happier.<\/p>\n

By not extending his contract a summer ago, they made it clear: They were ready to move on. And they have. They found their way to a front-line center and got a whole lot younger. And get this: They got better. In the long run and probably in a sprint too.<\/p>\n

Maybe it seems sacrilegious to suggest they\u2019ve improved by parting ways with the greatest player of all time and trading for a fifth-year pro who missed all but five games last season with the Utah Jazz after suffering a torn labrum.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not. Not when Walker Kessler<\/a> was the missing piece for these Luka Doncic<\/a> Lakers.<\/p>\n

Maybe you\u2019re finding it hard to get fired up about the new guy with no playoff experience. And you\u2019re used to the Lakers collecting the biggest names \u2014 not guys whose games are unfamiliar. Giannis<\/a>, say. Not … Walker.<\/p>\n

But please, stop and consider the tankathon Utah has been running; the last thing the Jazz wanted was Kessler on the court winning games for them.<\/p>\n

You also still might be experiencing sticker shock on the Lakers\u2019 behalf. They\u2019re getting Kessler on a $130-million, four-year deal after completing a sign-and-trade that sent out a 2031 first-rounder, 2033 first-rounder and first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030.<\/p>\n

But position, position, position is to the NBA what location, location, location is to real estate \u2014 and if this fit proves as fun as Doncic seems to believe, then Kessler\u2019s contract is going to feel like a real fair trade on the hot center market.<\/p>\n

Because, defensively, the Lakers\u2019 new 7-foot-2 center is a shot-blocking, space-eating deterrent in the post. That\u2019s invaluable when you\u2019re going with Doncic and Austin Reaves<\/a> on the perimeter.<\/p>\n

Offensively, Kessler has good hands and good handoff timing. You can call for him to screen all day. He has a radar for the rim, sixth in the NBA in dunks per game in 2024-25.<\/p>\n

And Kessler is a blessing on the glass, the king of second chances. His 4.6 offensive rebounds per game in 2024-25 led the NBA.<\/p>\n

Also: LeBron is going to turn 42 this season; Kessler is 25. <\/p>\n

\"Walker <\/p>\n

Walker Kessler was a big presence in the paint for the Jazz before he got hurt last season.<\/p>\n

(Frank Franklin II \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Age and experience count for a lot in life. But increasingly, today\u2019s NBA is proving a young man\u2019s game \u2014 and check ball, the Lakers are now in it.<\/p>\n

Out went Deandre Ayton (28 years old), Rui Hachimura (28), Luke Kennard (30) and Marcus Smart (32). Jaxson Hayes (26) too, the only departing rotation player younger than 28.<\/p>\n

In come Quentin Grimes (26), Sandro Mamukelashvili (27), Collin Sexton (27), Ziaire Williams (24), Jaden Hardy (24) and rookie summer league sensation Cameron Carr (21). Also, Kevon Looney, who will be Kessler\u2019s backup big, and Matisse Thybulle<\/a>, a proven defender on the wing, who are 30 and 29, respectively, and the only additions not younger than Doncic (27) and Reaves (28).<\/p>\n

Still, I get it. You\u2019re not wowed by the incoming group.<\/p>\n

Were you wowed when the Dodgers acquired Max Muncy, Justin Turner or Chris Taylor? Probably not. But those guys went on to help the club win World Series titles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Were the Dallas Mavericks banking on lob threat Derrick Jones Jr. \u2014 on a minimum contract \u2014 being a catalyst for their run to the 2024 NBA Finals? Do Lakers fans remember Doncic\u2019s 17 assists to guys like Dante Exum, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Grant Williams in a 2023 victory over LeBron and Anthony Davis?<\/p>\n

Doncic is manning the Lakers\u2019 elevator now; it\u2019s his job to lift his teammates to new heights. He can do it. He better do it.<\/p>\n

Because the margins can be major, but they don\u2019t account for most of the Lakers\u2019 offseason grade this summer.<\/p>\n

So give them a B+.<\/p>\n

Not an A. No, because not every assignment has been completed.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the minor matter of a starting five. The Lakers don\u2019t appear to have one of those just yet.<\/p>\n

They might yet add Jonathan Kuminga at forward. Or perhaps someone already rostered \u2014 hello, 22-year-old, skyscraping Adou Thiero \u2014 is waiting to wow us all in that role?<\/p>\n

Normally, not having an answer to the most basic of questions at this point in the summer would fail you.<\/p>\n

But this year is different.<\/p>\n

Filling the hole at center was weighted so heavily among the Lakers\u2019 priorities \u2014 and landing Kessler earned them so much extra credit \u2014 it bumps their grade almost all the way up.<\/p>\n

Of course, this was only the introductory course.<\/p>\n

The real tests for this fresh new roster \u2014 down an all-time talent but so much more solid in the center \u2014 come when the season begins. Or, really, when the postseason does.<\/p>\n

And expecting that opponents won\u2019t have an easy time coming up with answers for Doncic and his new dominant defensive center, the Lakers are now set up to score well there too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LeBron James has decided this time, he\u2019s taking his talents to Philadelphia. The Lakers couldn\u2019t be happier. By…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[4017,18123,166047,423,48,52,51,1415,64589,5936,47,50,49,129,94483,166048,16975,5931,315,15997,8843],"class_list":["post-415075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-contract","tag-doncic","tag-front-line-center","tag-game","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-lakers","tag-lebron","tag-location","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-nba","tag-new-guy","tag-offseason-grade","tag-position","tag-summer","tag-time","tag-walker-kessler","tag-way"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}