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The Los Angeles Lakers have overhauled their roster this offseason, but they haven’t managed to impress ESPN’s NBA insiders. They projected the standings in each conference for 2026-27, and the Lakers are down at sixth in the West with a 45-37 record. “The Lakers were a play-in team three times with LeBron James, and now that he is gone, it will be Luka Doncic’s challenge to lead L.A. to a top-six spot. The Lakers are coming off back-to-back 50-win seasons with coach JJ Redick but will field a drastically different lineup beyond the obvious change with James’ departure. Gone too are major contributors Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, Deandre Ayton and Luke Kennard, with Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton headlining the roster turnover.” The Lakers finished fourth in the West in 2025-26 with a 53-29 record. That’s a noticeable drop. ESPN’s Malika Andrews recently said she thinks the Lakers might be in danger of falling out of the top six. These projections have the Portland Trail Blazers at seventh in the West with a 43-39 record. So, the Lakers are just about avoiding the play-in tournament. They’re not all too close to the teams above them either. The insiders project each of the top five seeds to hit the 50-win mark, with the Minnesota Timberwolves finishing fifth at 50-32. This is all quite interesting. As mentioned there, the Lakers are coming off back-to-back 50-win campaigns under head coach JJ Redick. They were 50-32 in 2024-25, Redick’s first season in charge. Of course, a major difference between those two campaigns and this upcoming one is that there is no LeBron James. James left for the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason, and some key role players like Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, and Luke Kennard have departed as well. As for incomings, the Lakers have landed the likes of Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton, Matisse Thybulle, and Ziaire Williams. They also acquired young Cameron Carr via a draft-day trade. Now, some within the Lakers believe they might have taken a step back. This roster is younger, and the aim is to build with this core for the next three to five years. Leading this group will, of course, be Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Doncic is reportedly excited about the Lakers’ moves, and it will be interesting to see how far he can take this new-look team. The six-time All-Star has notably taken on a bigger leadership role this summer after James’ departure by hosting a minicamp in Slovenia. Doncic looked in stunning shape at the minicamp, and former NBA star Gilbert Arenas loved what he saw. Arenas believes the rest of the NBA is in trouble. Doncic is definitely the reason why you can make the case for the Lakers finishing with a better record than this projection. The 27-year-old put up excellent averages of 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in 2025-26. This Lakers roster might not be good enough for Doncic to lead them to a title, but you’d back him to get them to about 50 wins and clinch a top-four seed.