Luka Dončić will be closely watching how this unfolds.
Ever since he was traded to the Lakers in February 2025, they’ve vowed to build a contender around him.
Well, summer 2026 has arrived and the sand is now streaming through the hourglass. The Lakers could have up to nine free agents. And they have the No. 25 pick in the NBA draft.
Their biggest hole?
Down low.
With their first chance to build out the roster in Tuesday’s draft, the Lakers should prioritize targeting a center, such as Kentucky’s J or UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr.
Doncic needs a reliable presence in the paint. He needs a rim protector. He needs someone who can catch lobs. He needs a stalwart defender.
Deandre Ayton, who has an $8.1 million player option for next season, has proven inconsistent. Same with Jaxson Hayes, who will become an unrestricted free agent.
The Lakers need an elite big and a developmental center, the latter of which they could find Tuesday.
The 6-foot-9 Quaintance was initially projected to go much higher in the draft. But after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee in February 2025, there’s a chance he could slip into the Lakers’ grasp. When healthy, the 18-year-old has proven to be a skilled shotblocker who’s athletic and defensive-minded.
Then there’s the 6-foot-10 Reed, who averaged 14.7 points on 60.7% shooting, nine rebounds and 2.2 blocks over 35 games for the Huskies as a senior last season. The 22-year-old is physical and could make an impact as a reserve center.
Houston’s Chris Cenac is another option. The 19-year-old is 6-foot-10, athletic and has a 7-foot-5 wingspan.
This much is for sure: Against a gauntlet of Western Conference teams with strong frontcourts, such as Denver (Nikola Jokic) and San Antonio (Victor Wembanyama), the Lakers’ roster needs some major bolstering in the paint.
In recent years, the Lakers haven’t fared well in the first round of the draft.
They picked Dalton Knecht at No. 17 in 2024, but he never became a rotational player. And they selected Jalen Hood-Schifino at No. 17 in 2023, but he’s now out of the league.
The pressure is on for the Lakers to get this right.
Dončić agreed to a three-year, $165 million maximum contract extension last summer with a player option in 2028. He’s doing his part. He led the league in scoring last season (33.5 points per game) and finished fourth in MVP voting.
Now the Lakers must do their part.
Under the direction of new owner Mark Walter, the Lakers have prepared for this moment by revamping their front office, adding Tony Bennett as a draft consultant and Rohan Ramadas as their assistant general manager of strategy and data systems to work alongside general manager and president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka.
Andrew Friedman, Farhan Zaidi and Lon Rosen are also going to have their fingerprints on trying to make the Lakers elite again.
All eyes are on the Lakers’ new braintrust.
The Lakers don’t have any second round picks, but they could get involved through a trade. One thing they’ve been historically great at is picking up guys who have fallen through the cracks, such as Austin Reaves and Alex Caruso, who both went undrafted.
Reaves, who transformed into a star after the Lakers acquired him in 2021, is expected to turn down his $14.9 million player option to become a free agent. He’s one of the Lakers’ biggest question marks this offseason, along with LeBron James, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent. The Lakers have made it clear they want both players to return.
This much is clear: The Lakers need to improve in a lot of areas to compete with the league’s elite, such as San Antonio and Oklahoma City. In addition to their struggles at the center position, they need more 3&D players. They need to get younger. Deeper.
After the Lakers were swept out of the second round of the playoffs by the Thunder, Pelinka pointed to Ajay Mitchell as the type of diamond in the rough who can be found in the draft. Mitchell, who was the 38th pick in the 2024 draft by New York, torched the Lakers with 22.5 points a game in that series.
“There’s ways to add to your roster if you commit to doing the hard work and commit to the process of adding the right pieces,” Pelinka said in May.
Well, the draft is fast approaching.
And for the Lakers, the clock is ticking.
The need to build a contender around Doncic.
Or else.
