Austin Reaves spent media sessions this week telling the Lakers’ newcomers how to handle the spotlight. He told them, “This is one of the most covered sports organizations in the world. [You’ll] get praised when you’re good and not when you’re not,” and said outside noise doesn’t matter.
That leaves a question for the first post-LeBron season: should this team be judged against a championship standard? SES says no. These Lakers should face real pressure, but the bar is different from that one.
The Spending Argues for a Title Standard
The championship case starts with how much the front office spent. Reaves came back on a four-year, $185 million contract, and the Lakers acquired Walker Kessler from Utah for two future first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps.
A team doesn’t hand over that much draft capital to build for a 45-win season.
Dončić also gives the case real weight. He won the scoring title at 33.5 points per game despite a hamstring injury that kept him out of the playoffs, and the underlying numbers favor him running the show alone.
Over the last two seasons, Dončić averaged almost 40 points and nine assists per 75 possessions when he was on the floor without LeBron James. He has already taken a long shot to the Finals once, in Dallas.
The clock matters too. Dončić’s three-year, $165 million extension in August 2025 runs through at least 2027-28, so seasons with him are limited and none can be written off.
The Roster Hasn’t Earned That Standard Yet
The market and the projections agree that this isn’t a contender yet. Books have the Lakers around +4000 to win the title, and ESPN’s preview ranks them 11th with 45.4 projected wins, which would be eight fewer than last season.
The roster has barely played together. Kessler appeared in just five games last season, and he said this month that he’s still establishing his footing and timing after not playing since Halloween last year.
The Lakers were never whole in their five preseason games, of which they won only two, and Reaves himself is predicting “There’s gonna be some growing pains.”
The biggest problem is defense, and last season’s playoff exit showed it. A team that finished 20th in defensive rating at 115.5 was swept by the Thunder in the second round.
Oklahoma City and San Antonio remain the betting favorites. Holding a remade roster to a title standard ignores how far ahead those two teams are.
The case against is stronger. The case for rests on what the Lakers paid. The case against rests on what the roster has actually shown.
Spending Doesn’t Make Them Contenders
The Lakers should be judged on whether the Kessler trade and the Reaves contract turn into a defense good enough to win a playoff series with Dončić healthy. Expecting a title on a 2.5 percent shot sets up a disappointment the evidence never supported.
Expecting nothing ignores what the team gave up to get here.
The defensive identity Reaves keeps describing is the right thing to measure. He has said, “Defensively, we’re gonna be much better.” Five preseason games can’t prove or disprove that.
A season-long jump from 20th into the top 12, with a lineup built on Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams and Kessler, would.
If the Lakers hit the All-Star break in the West’s top four with a top-12 defense, championship pressure becomes fair, and SES will say so.
If the defense is back near the bottom third, the problem isn’t a title drought. It’s a front office that paid future picks for a fix that didn’t work.
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