Lakers legend Magic Johnson has thrown his support behind the franchise's offseason rebuild around Luka Doncic, offering a positive assessment of the moves made since LeBron James departed to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Johnson explained that the Lakers needed to get younger, more athletic and faster, and believes the roster additions accomplished exactly that. Chief among those moves was a four-year, $129.5 million contract for centre Walker Kessler, acquired in a deal that cost Los Angeles unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 along with pick swaps in 2028 and 2030. Johnson praised the fit alongside Doncic but acknowledged the Lakers paid a steep price for a player who has missed 101 games over the past two seasons, leaving president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka with little room to pivot should Kessler's fit not work out as hoped.
Beyond Kessler, the additions of Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Matisse Thybulle and Sandro Mamukelashvili were framed as sensible depth moves, with Johnson suggesting Grimes in particular could prove a savvy pickup should he recapture the form he showed with Philadelphia during the second half of the 2024-25 season. Much of Pelinka's available cap space was already committed to a new contract for Austin Reaves, limiting how aggressively the front office could pursue proven centres, most of whom were either restricted free agents or already under contract elsewhere.
While stopping short of calling it a home run offseason, Johnson's overall verdict was that the Lakers have genuinely improved, even in a summer defined more by James's high-profile departure than by any major addition of their own.
