Lakers must use NBA draft to get younger and more athletic

When it comes to taking the steps toward becoming an NBA title contender, the path that worked for one team doesn’t guarantee success for another. 

The paths for the 2025 NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder or 2026 Western Conference champion Spurs – who built their teams through savvy trades and high draft picks after multiple consecutive losing seasons – won’t work for the Lakers. 

Going into multiple consecutive seasons without the goal of building a championship-contending roster, let alone one a playoff-contender one, isn’t feasible for the Lakers.  

“That is just not part of our infrastructure here, as much as some of us might want it to be that way: It’s not the Lakers way,” Lakers president of basketball operations/general manager Rob Pelinka said after their 2025-26 season ended. “We have to find sustained excellence so it does create, at times, a thread the needle where you gotta find a way to have championship rosters every year.”

But what the Lakers can, and have, taken away from the teams who’ve recently played for the NBA championship over the last couple of years is the type of roster construction it takes to compete among the league’s best. 

Depth that can withstand injuries and produce impact players in precarious moments. 

Speed and athleticism that can string together multiple successful defensive efforts within a single possession several times in a game. 

Youth that can withstand the rigor of an 82-game regular season, plus another two months of intense playoff games. 

The NBA draft, which starts with Tuesday’s first round and concludes with the second round on Wednesday, will provide the Lakers, who have the No. 25 pick in the first round, with the opportunity to add those elements to their roster. 

“We have a lot of components of that on our roster, but we need to add to it,” Pelinka said. “Those are some of the key north stars that we need to look at. 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. We’ll be doing that through the draft and free agency and through trades. We’ve gotta find a way to have a roster that will compete with any team in the NBA. That’s what we do here.”

And they must add depth, athleticism and youth to their roster with regard to how it’ll fit into their goal of building a championship-level roster around superstar guard Luka Doncic. While also navigating the uncertainties of their own free agents, including stars LeBron James and Austin Reaves.

While challenging, adding young players who can contribute to a roster that has the hopes of competing for a championship isn’t impossible. 

And the Lakers got a firsthand view of what that can look like, with second-year guard Ajay Mitchell, who was the No. 38 pick in the 2024 NBA draft, being the Thunder’s second-leading scorer during OKC’s four-game second round sweep of the Lakers. 

Even with the Lakers having a late pick in the first round, there isn’t a shortage of draft prospects the Lakers have been connected to who could make an immediate impact on their team while also fitting multiple areas the Lakers need to address: from Kentucky center Jayden Quaintance and UConn big man Tarris Reed Jr. to St. John’s center Zuby Ejiofor and Houston big man Chris Cenac Jr.

“In this salary cap system, player development is going to be a huge thing to lean into for success, ultimately,” Pelinka said. “We have to continue to find young talent and develop them in terms of the resources that Jeanie [Buss] and Mark [Walter] are providing for us, that’s an area that they really want us to grow.”

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