Why This 2027 Lakers Roster Will Fall Short

I’m struggling to call them “my Lakers” because the roster looks expensive, imperfect, and still short of true contender status. I walk through the new names, the salary cap problem, and why the West matchups make me doubt a championship run. 
• Roster rundown built around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves 
• Salary cap and apron concerns with an over-the-cap roster 
• Why “Batman and Robin” as Luka and Reaves feels risky 
• Fit questions compared with the Mavericks finals blueprint 
• Matchup breakdowns against the Wolves, Spurs, Thunder, and Nuggets 
• Why even mid-tier teams can become tough nights 
• Pressure on Luka to win a ring as the league gets younger 
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Transcript

Welcome And Quick Housekeeping

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show, get a bucket. I'm your host, Trey, as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're going to talk about the Lakers. Should I say my? We'll talk about it. But before we talk about my Lakers, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. Try and get the ratings up a little bit, you know, just a little bit. And if you wonder where you heard this before, that's because you've been listening with me Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. So I greatly appreciate your support.

Are They My Lakers Now?

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Now, I struggle with saying Lakers or my Lakers, because I'm technically on record for saying that I'm a Minnesota Timberwolves fan now, right? Like I'm not really that impressed with my with what the Lakers are doing, fluctuating between my and the Lakers, to be clear.

Running Through The New Roster

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Reason why, let's just go down our rosters so far, right? I mean I'm looking at 12-man roster off top. We got Luka Donczyk, Austin Reeves, Quentin Grime, Jared Vanderbilt, Walker Kessler, Colin Sexton, Jake La Ravia, Sandro Mamalu, Mammu Kellashivila. Oh my gosh. You know what? Yeah, we're gonna call you Mamu and call it a day, bro. DeAndre Aiton, Dalton Connect, and Bronny James, along with Cameron Carr, who we just drafted with the 24th pick, if I'm not mistaken, this year's draft. So cool. Maybe a couple scraggles along the way, but that's that's essentially

Salary Cap And Apron Problems

SPEAKER_00 1:14

what we got to work with. And right now, the NBA's salary cap is supposed to be $165 million.

unknown 1:20

Right?

SPEAKER_00 1:21

So that means, you know, like the first and separate apron, stuff like that, they you might have heard about. Yeah, before you hit there, you get $165 million to spend, to allocate to these players. Right now, our salary cap is gonna be rejected at $191. And that's just with them 12 players, just to be clear. So we're probably gonna go over it just a little bit more, too, to be clear. And just knowing that that's what like we're almost $30 million over the salary cap is disgusting because the way I look at it, our construction is as follows. Luka Donchik and Austin Reeves are our Batman and Robin. They're our best players, supposedly, on the team. That's disgusting work. Now keep in mind, right? We have a couple perimeter defenders, we have some rim protection, and we have some shooters. I think we were promising Luca a similar team to the team that he went to the finals with,

Batman And Robin Debate

SPEAKER_00 2:20

right? You remember that team with Kyrie and Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively and PJ Washington and them boys. That's supposed to be what this team is looking like. It's trying to get to. I don't know who the hell is Kyrie. I don't know who that is. Not at all. Our perimeter defense also is not the same like the Mavericks was. I'm just be honest with you. Okay, they had a couple more versatile forwards on their team than we do. All right, now to be clear, I like players like Quentin Grimes. Jared Vanderbilt is an okay role player, and I actually do not mind Colin Sexton on the team. I don't. Actually, he was supposed to be one of the players that I was recommending, to be clear. Especially in another trade. He's solid. Walker Kessler, 2.4 blocks for his career. Moved DeAndre Ayton down to the bench. Heard you. Like it works. We got about six shooters who, for their career, are averaging 35% from the three or better. But keep in mind it's 35 to 37%. So it's not like we got no elite shooters. We just have a couple of good shooters. But pairing that with a Luka Doncic, that's pretty solid. That's pretty solid. Right. Yeah, I'm not really impressed. And I'm not impressed, ladies and gentlemen, because we gotta think about how everything works, right? Like the game itself, and how do these players fit?

Measuring Up To West Giants

SPEAKER_00 3:45

Let's look at, let's look at like my I keep struggling with this. My and Lakers. Let's let's look at the Lakers versus the Wolves, right? I think the Wolves end up having the myth have having the matchup advantage. Same with the Spurs, same with the Thunder, same with the Nuggets. Wolves, right? You got Luca versus Jaden, because that's the matchup that's gonna be. You could say that it's a it's it leans us, it leans the Lakers. But then Ant-Man versus Austin. I think that leans Wolves easily. Lamello versus Quentin. I think that leaves Wolves easily. Shannon versus Vanderbilt, we could say that's a wash. And then Kessler versus Gobert, I don't think either moves the needle enough for me to say, oh yeah, that person definitely is better than that one. Nah, not quite. Now, Rudy's more accomplished as in his career, but right now, point in time, I think you could say it's fair to say that's a wash. And by my estimation, ladies and gentlemen, we're leaning wolves in this. And keep in mind, like we've we've already been beaten by the wolves before. We don't have an answer for Ant-Man. I get all that, trust me. But now they got Lamelo balls. Yeah, we're losing to the wolves. OKC and the Spurs really don't even need to bring up. It's very understandable. To be clear, our only matchup advantage that we could even have with the Spurs and the Thunder is involving Luca Doncick. Because Luca's gonna get guarded by like Stefan Castle, right? Cool. We lose that matchup. Dylan Harper or Darren Fox versus Austin Reeves. I'm probably leaning the Spurs over Reason. That's like the closest thing we got. That is. It really truly is. Vassell versus Grimes. I hear you as a wash. I have it as a wash. But again, like these are the closest that we're talking about. Lakers versus OKC. Again, Luca versus J Dub. If you want to say it's a wash, I hear you because J-Lub, look, he can play both sides of the butt of the basketball, right? You gotta lean Luca. But that's our only other favorable matchup. Reeves versus SGA, Dort versus Grimes. Come on now. Chet versus Vanderbilt. We can try to make the argument for Hartenstein versus Kessler, but I think that's a wash. So again, ladies and gentlemen, we struggle against OKC. The Nuggets, you already know what time is. Honestly, Yokik beating the brakes off Kessler. Like that's gonna be disgusting work. Again, Luca is our only good matchup. Jamal versus Reeves, I don't know. Cam versus Quentin, we can say it's a wash. Gordon versus Vanderbilt. I lean Denver on that one. Again, ladies and gentlemen, we don't do well against the Wolves, the Spurs, the Thunder, or the Nuggets.

The Trap Games On The Schedule

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Now, some teams we could do okay against the Rockets, because we just beat them, but they also should have a chip on their shoulder. And again, the constant theme is this Luca versus Amon, right? That's an advantage we get. Now, Fred Van Fleet versus Austin Reeves. That one's an interesting one. Because Fred Van Fleet would be coming back off injury. So could we get this advantage? We might be able to, but the rest of the way, it goes Rockets. KD versus Quentin Grimes. Unless we get some trades. I think the Rockets win the re Oh my God. The rest of the way, Shingoon versus Kessler. Elaine Singoon. Just saying, Warriors, we still need to figure out who they got. Portland actually could be a little interesting. Not even gonna lie to you. Like next season, right? Who does better between Dame and Austin Reeves? Genuine question, by the way. If we're talking about career, easily Dame. But next season, because Dame's coming back off injury, who does better? Shaking off Rust? That could be a little interesting for sure. But Portland is not a look, we gotta come at, we gotta come at them correct too. The Jazz, they might look at us pretty interesting. Like again, Luca guarded by who ace. Yeah, Luca wins that matchup. But what about someone like Keontae versus Austin Reeves? Keontae George versus Austin Reeves actually think is a lot closer matchup than people want to admit and realize. And actually, I may lean, I may lean Keonta in that matchup. I genuinely might. Like Keontae is a younger player, puts up similar numbers as Austin Reeves. I like that matchup personally. So if you want to say it's a wash too, okay, fine, let's see what happens. But you got Laurie Marking versus Quentin Grimes, Jaron Jackson Jr. versus Vanderbilt, Nurkish versus Kessler. We could say that that last one is a wash, but I think it might lean Jazz this season, next season, holla at me. It may change for 2028, but 2027 season. I think Nurkic is going to give a little bit more production, especially in his role than Kessler does. But again, we may we might even struggle against a team like the Pelicans, ladies and gentlemen. Like Luka Doncic versus Herb Jones. Let's not act like Herb Jones can't defend now. Just offensively, eh, you know, he's not quite there yet. So again, Eileen Luca. Trey Murphy III versus Austin Reeves. I actually go Trey Murphy. Because he's a two-way elite player. He can defend and he can. If he gets hot, it's ridiculous. But again, his defense is pretty stellar. DeJounte Murray versus Quentin Grimes. I might have to go DeJounte. Zion versus Vanderbilt, easily Zion. Come on now. And then Derek Queen versus Walker Kessler. That could be a wash. Now, I think from expectation, you gotta assume that Kessler's gonna get better production next season. But Derek's no slouch too either, ladies and gentlemen. So that could go either way. I would expect us to beat a team like the Pelicans. Just basing it off starting five, though, it could be a closer game than people realize. So again, ladies and gentlemen, while we are making some headway, some noise this free agency period, it's not enough for me to say, yeah, we're gonna win it all for

Luka’s Ring Pressure Starts Now

SPEAKER_00 9:48

sure. And keep in mind, there's still pressure on us and Luca to win the championship. Like, there is. Like we gotta remember he's turning 28 this season. Two more seasons, he's 30. They go by just like that. I promise you they do. So all these other talented players are getting older, coming up the ranks. Like, we got Wimby who's gonna need to win one eventually. Ant-Man's gonna need one to win one eventually. Cade Cunningham's gonna need to win one eventually. All these different players are gonna need to win one eventually. Luca may want to get his chip before all these young guns start popping up. Because next thing you know, we're gonna talk about the Cooper Flags and the AJ DeBonsas and all them. And eventually it becomes Luca Donchik, Luca the Dawn, to well, you know he was cool. But now he's done. And that's the sort of pressure that we're expecting. Because let's be clear. He's still viewed as a top 10 player. But as time goes on, more people are gonna start to say, hey, maybe he's not, if he's not winning championships, and other players are. Talking about all-time greats, Charles Barkley faces a lot of slander for not winning a ring. So there's gonna be pressure on the Lakers and the and Luka Doncic to win. But keep in mind though, ladies and gentlemen, you gotta be judging Luka Doncic on this iteration of the Lakers in County because he did say he wants Austin Reeves as his running mate. He did state that. So they look, we did give him a four-year, $185 million contract. That's $46 million per season. So you wanted him to get that money. You got it. He got it. Now Lakers fans need to get a championship, or else you're gonna get it the same way that Braun got it. So again, ladies and gentlemen, I'm not as a Lakers fan, I'm not that impressed with the signings thus far. Did we make some interesting moves? Some, yes. There were some decent ones. But there were two, some that I'm like, I'm not really feeling this. So I'm not expecting us to win next season. But keep in mind we win, we need to win next season. Or the season after that, or the season after that, or the season after that. And I'm not saying enough from this lot from this roster to say, yeah, we're gonna do it. But if we do, I will be the first to say, my bad. I apologize. Y'all got me. Like I was pleasantly surprised. I just don't think I'm gonna be

Final Take And Your Turn

SPEAKER_00 12:30

surprised. But ladies and gentlemen, I'm curious what you all think about the Lakers signing thus far. Do you like the roster? Do you not like the roster? What are some good things about it? Like, we got some okay shooters. We should be able to have some ball movement flowing. But I don't like the fact that our defense still looks a little suspect. Again, our perimeter defenders are Quentin Grimes, Jarrett Vanderbilt, and Colin Sexton. Solid defenders, but I don't expect them to see the end of the game. So like we're still gonna struggle at times. Especially against top-tier teams like the Thunder, like the Wolves, like the Spurs, like the Nuggets. And those are four teams right there. Teams are gonna get bigger and better. Like, we gotta expect that the Warriors are gonna get somebody or something or do something. Got to. So again, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I'm very curious how my Lakers do. And this is probably gonna last me the whole thing. Like, I probably don't have to talk about the Lakers team roster again unless we make a big trade. Cause right now, I mean, I yeah, our roster looks like this is what it's gonna be. So let me know your thoughts, ladies and gentlemen, about the about the about the Lakers roster. I'm curious. But that does conclude the end of the episode. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get the Bucket and somewhat of a Shook Lakers fan. I hope you all are having a good one. Take care.