The Lakers rebuilt their roster this summer around a rim-running center and a group of guards who need the ball. That leaves the spacing around Luka Dončić resting on one question: whether Austin Reaves can make more 3s, at a better rate, while also running more of the offense than he ever has.
What Walked Out the Door
The spacing loss was specific. Rui Hachimura averaged 11.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game last season while shooting 51.4% overall and 44.3% from 3-point range, then shot 56.9% from 3 in the playoffs — first among all players with at least five attempts per game in the 2026 postseason. He signed a two-year, $28 million contract with the Clippers after the Lakers, who had hoped to land draft capital in a sign-and-trade, got only a minimal cash offer.
Luke Kennard is gone too, and for the first time since 2017-18, the Lakers enter a season without LeBron James. Taken together, the Lakers lost a proven spot-up forward, a veteran shooter and the second creator who let Reaves spend possessions off the ball.
The Replacements Space the Bench, Not the Starting Five
The biggest addition doesn’t shoot. The Lakers sent Utah unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 and first-round swaps in 2028 and 2030 for Walker Kessler, who will sign a four-year, $130 million contract. Kessler did show signs of a 3-point shot, making six of eight attempts before a shoulder injury ended his season. Five games isn’t enough to make defenses guard him out there.
There’s real shooting elsewhere on the roster. In 2025-26, Collin Sexton hit 40.1% from 3 in 68 games, Jaden Hardy made 39.7% in 57, Sandro Mamukelashvili shot 38.9% across 80 games, and Quentin Grimes shot 38.3% on catch-and-shoot 3s. But Sexton and Hardy are small scoring guards off the bench, and Mamukelashvili’s shooting mostly helps when he’s playing center instead of Kessler. With Kessler starting, Reaves has to be the high-volume threat on the perimeter.
Reaves’ 36 Percent Problem
Reaves is coming off his best season. He appeared in 51 games (45 starts) for the Lakers in 2025-26, averaging a career-high 23.3 points, along with 2.3 3s in 34.5 minutes. His efficiency didn’t keep pace: He shot 36.0% from 3, nearly matching Dončić’s 36.6% on much heavier volume.
That’s average efficiency from someone the Lakers now pay like a star. Under his new deal, Reaves will earn a base salary of $41,240,250 this season. When a team’s two best perimeter players both shoot around 36% and the starting center works entirely inside the arc, defenses get room to load up on Dončić’s drives.
The Playmaking Tax
Reaves’ job is also changing. With James gone, he’s the main creator whenever Dončić sits, and Rob Pelinka described the Kessler move as pairing a lob-catching big with “our two premier pick-and-roll guards, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves.” Reaves has done this before: early last season he scored a career-high 51 points against Sacramento and handed out 16 assists against Minnesota while carrying the offense.
The problem is that he can’t be the ball-handler and the spacer on the same possession. The good news is that the pairing works when both players have a role. The Lakers outscored opponents by 10.1 points per 100 possessions in 532 minutes with the backcourt duo on the floor without James last year.
The Bottom Line
The main issue isn’t whether Reaves can create. He’s already shown he can. The issue is whether he can shoot enough off the catch in his minutes next to Dončić to make defenders stay attached to him, then save his pick-and-roll work for the minutes Dončić sits. JJ Redick should stagger the two as much as the rotation allows.
Our view: Reaves’ 3-point percentage is the number most likely to decide this season. At 36%, the paint gets crowded, Kessler’s lobs dry up, and those picks and swaps start to look expensive. If he gets into the high 30s on more attempts, the offseason plan works as designed, and Hachimura’s departure turns into a footnote instead of the mistake that defined the summer.
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