RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesThere are still several weeks to go in the summer of 2026, which means that people can only speculate about how good the new-look Los Angeles Lakers will be this coming season. LeBron James is gone, as are Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, Luke Kennard, Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes, and the Lakers have replaced them with men such as Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton and Sandro Mamukelashvili, among others.
Some feel the franchise is definitely on the right track to building a championship team around Luka Doncic. Others feel its new players are incapable of getting the job done, and that the franchise gave those players outsized contracts while exhausting virtually all of its trade capital.
Channing Frye, who won the NBA championship with James on the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, said during an episode of the "Road Trippin' Show" that the Lakers won't be able to compete with most of the teams that will make the playoffs in the Western Conference (h/t Fadeaway World ).
“Make a playoff run?” Frye said. “No. They can make the playoffs. But no. I don’t like the way that team is built at all. And maybe something happens, but no, they’re going to lose to a team like Denver, Minnesota, OKC, Houston. I even got Phoenix right there, Utah. I mean, do I even have to say San Antonio?
“I just don’t see the way that this team is built that they’re really going to compete versus those type of other teams,” Frye continued. “So, no. I don’t think so.”
The former big man then elaborated on why he feels that way. He mentioned a common thought -- that Los Angeles is trying to emulate the Dallas Mavericks team that went to the NBA Finals in 2024 with Doncic -- and said that this team is a poor imitation of that Dallas squad.
“If this was trying to make what they had in Dallas, I think they need to re-look at what they had in Dallas,” Frye said. “Like athlete at center, prime athlete at forward, prime athlete defender at three, prime athlete shooter at two, and then him. He needs to be surrounded by defensive athletes, guys that could get out and play, make their own plays.
“This team feels very ploppy and very half-court sets team,” Frye continued. “This doesn’t seem like a team that’s going to get out and just run, but maybe that’s not what Luka wants to do anymore. I felt like the other team definitely wanted to get out, run, be athletic, and then when things got down in the half-court, they would just go to Luka. With this team, seems like they want to live in the half-court.”
That Dallas squad was eighth in fast-break points that season and had frontcourt players such as Daniel Gafford, Derrick Jones Jr. and P.J. Washington who could run the floor well. One thing it didn't have enough of was outside shooting. It was 13th in 3-point accuracy, and on the other end, it couldn't pick up the slack, as it was 18th in defensive rating.
This new Lakers roster does appear to be speedier and more athletic than last season's iteration, as well as more capable of hitting from the perimeter. Grimes and Sexton are speedy and athletic, and while Mamukelashvili isn't particularly athletic, he has become a good 3-point shooter over the last two seasons.
New wings Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle have their flaws, but both are very disruptive defenders who can also get out in transition and finish. Incoming rookie guard Cameron Carr is very athletic, and second-year forward Adou Thiero remains an intriguing prospect because of his ability to leap into the stratosphere.
This Lakers team may not be the most athletic one in the NBA, but it should have some ability to get out and run, unlike its predecessors over the last few seasons.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James' former teammate doesn't like Lakers' new-look roster
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