Lakers Turn the Page: LeBron's Exit, Luka's Team and a Near-Miss in Vegas

For the first time since 2018, the Los Angeles Lakers are building a roster without LeBron James in it, and the strangest part of this week's Los Angeles Lakers news is how normal it already feels. James told the front office on June 30 that he plans to play elsewhere in 2026-27, and three weeks later he still hasn't picked a destination — his agent Rich Paul told ESPN on July 20 there's "no timetable" for a decision. Meanwhile, the team he left behind spent the past seven days watching its summer league squad rip off six straight wins before falling to Golden State in the Las Vegas semifinals, haggling with Atlanta over Jonathan Kuminga, and generally acting like a franchise that has already turned the page. This is Luka Doncic's operation now, and the outline of what that means got a lot clearer this week.

The LeBron watch continues — from a distance

Let's deal with the elephant that left the room. James, 41 and heading into a record 24th season, averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds last season despite missing the first month with sciatica, and made the All-Star team even as his 21-year All-NBA streak ended. After the Lakers were swept out of the second round of the playoffs by Oklahoma City, he instructed Paul to find him "meaningful, competitive basketball." Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia and Golden State are the reported finalists, and as of July 20 nothing had moved. Jeanie Buss thanked him for eight years and the 2020 title; LeBron called wearing the uniform "truly a honor" on his way out. It was about as amicable as a superstar divorce gets, mostly because both sides could see it coming. The Lakers had already committed to Doncic — extended through 2028 on a max deal he signed last August — and to Austin Reaves, who agreed to a four-year, $185 million max contract in June. The future was funded before LeBron cleaned out his locker.

A 35-minute makeover

The front office's response to James' exit was not subtle. Within a 35-minute stretch on Day 2 of free agency, per ESPN, the Lakers landed Walker Kessler from Utah in a sign-and-trade — four years, roughly $130 million, at the cost of unprotected 2031 and 2033 first-round picks plus 2028 and 2030 swaps — and added Sandro Mamukelashvili (four years, $52 million), Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton. Doncic had reportedly asked for a legitimate rim-protecting center; a 7-foot-2 shot-blocker entering his prime is about as direct an answer as exists. The corollary move came July 3, when Deandre Ayton, who had opted into his $8.1 million deal, was shipped to Washington for guard Jaden Hardy and two future second-rounders. Kevon Looney followed on July 7 on a one-year, $3.9 million contract to back up Kessler, bringing three championships' worth of screening and rebounding know-how. The departures list is long: LeBron, Marcus Smart to Houston, Luke Kennard to Phoenix, and Rui Hachimura across the hallway to the Clippers. What's left is a rotation built entirely around Doncic and Reaves, with Kessler cleaning up behind them.

Summer league: six straight wins and a near-miss

The best pure basketball in this week's Lakers news came from Las Vegas, where the summer squad won its first four games in blowouts and carried a six-game winning streak into the semifinals. The run included a 99-85 dismissal of the Clippers on July 15, with first-round pick Cameron Carr — the Baylor wing L.A. traded up to grab at No. 24 — scoring 23 points, Chris Mañon posting 17 and 11, and Adou Thiero adding 13. It ended July 18 in a 92-88 thriller against the eventual champion Warriors, a game with 12 first-half lead changes that sat tied at 42 at the break. Thiero threw down a couple of alley-oops that made the highlight reels, Carr hit a big fourth-quarter three, and Mañon missed a late free throw that could have tied it. Both Lakers losses this summer, in Vegas and the California Classic opener, came against Golden State, which went on to beat Memphis for the title — so the July experiment ended one possession short of a championship rematch nobody would have predicted in June. The week's takeaways:

• Carr looks like a genuine steal at No. 24 — a confident scorer who kept producing as the competition stiffened.
• Thiero's athleticism plays right now, and a second-year leap would fill the wing minutes Hachimura vacated.
• Arthur Kaluma and AK Okereke earned themselves long camp looks with consistent two-way effort.

The Kuminga standoff

The unfinished business is on the wing, and the week brought a genuine stalemate. The Lakers have been chasing Jonathan Kuminga, the restricted free agent now with Atlanta, as their Hachimura replacement, but reporting on July 20 described the two sides as far apart on a sign-and-trade. Los Angeles has floated roughly $10 million a year; Kuminga's camp wants more, and an early framework built around Jarred Vanderbilt and a 2032 pick swap has reportedly cooled because the Hawks don't love taking Vanderbilt back. Cleveland lurks as a rival suitor, though its interest is parked until LeBron decides — one more way James' limbo is gumming up the league. If Kuminga falls through, names like Bruce Brown, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle and Ochai Agbaji are on the backup list. Sitting over the cap but under both aprons, the Lakers have just enough flexibility to finish the job, and not much more.

Where the roster actually stands

Squint and the depth chart is coherent: Doncic and Reaves handling the ball, Grimes and Sexton supplying backcourt scoring, Hardy as a flier, Kessler and Looney at center, Mamukelashvili stretching the floor, with Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia, Dalton Knecht, Thiero, Carr and Bronny James filling out the forward and wing rotation. The obvious hole is a starting-caliber forward, which is why the Kuminga talks matter so much. In a Western Conference where the champion Thunder return everything and the frisky mid-tier keeps arming up, a Doncic-Reaves-Kessler core reads like a clear playoff team with a ceiling that depends on whether the front office lands one more two-way wing. That's a very different bet than the last eight years, but it's an honest one: younger, longer, and paid through the end of the decade. It also comes with real defensive teeth for the first time in a while — Kessler, Vanderbilt and a healthy dose of wing athleticism give the coaching staff something to build an identity around besides Doncic's shot-making.

What's next on the calendar

The offseason now shifts into its administrative phase. Opening night and Christmas matchups typically leak in the second week of August, with the full 2026-27 schedule expected around mid-August — and league sources have noted even those announcements could slide while LeBron's free agency drags on. Training camps open in late September, and until then the to-do list is short but heavy: resolve Kuminga one way or another, settle the last roster spots, and get Doncic and a retooled group as many reps together as possible.

The week ahead in Los Angeles Lakers news will be quieter than the month behind it, and that might be the point. The panic move after losing a legend is to chase another aging name; the Lakers instead bought size, shooting and years. Whenever LeBron finally picks his last stop, the team he left will be somewhere in Vegas-honed shape, running everything through a 27-year-old who just told the world he plans to be here a while. As pivots go, you could do a lot worse.