Lou Williams likes six or seven teams before he likes the Los Angeles Lakers. With LeBron James gone to Philadelphia, this is fully Luka Doncic's team for the first time since the Lakers acquired him from Dallas in February 2025 in the trade that sent Anthony Davis the other way. Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler could make a big difference around him, but the former Laker isn't convinced it's enough.
"I just don't see it right now," said Lou Williams in a recent edition of the Run It Back show. "I would love for them to prove me wrong, but on paper, this is the preseason. On paper, I like six or seven teams before I like the Lakers right now is the thing."
Williams knows the franchise. He signed with the Lakers in 2015, played Kobe Bryant's final season alongside him, and was traded to the Houston Rockets in 2017.
On the show, he argued that the current roster doesn't pack enough of a punch. Doncic can be a difference-maker, and so can Reaves, but the team may need more than that.
"After Austin Reaves and after Luka, who's that next guy that's going to give you that?" Williams posed the question . "If you're hedging your bets on Quinn Grimes, he's going to have to have a tremendous season. He's going to have to be out there every single night proving his worth."
He then asked the other hosts whether they liked the Lakers more than the Denver Nuggets, the Portland Trail Blazers or the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Nuggets won their only championship in 2023, and OKC won the 2025 title behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Lakers haven't won a title since 2020. That team had LeBron James and the now-retired Dwight Howard, along with Anthony Davis, who averaged 26.1 points and 9.3 rebounds that season, and Alex Caruso, an impactful bench player.
The existing Los Angeles Lakers roster has none of these players. That isn't to say that they're incapable. Luka Doncic is a star in his own right. He averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game last year.
Similarly, Austin Reaves had 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. However, the team's dynamics lay one layer deeper than the statistics.
While the team has great scorers, it may struggle defensively. This gives other teams in the conference a great shot at taking them out of the competition.
The point was soundly delivered by former basketball player Chandler Parsons. "We haven't even talked about how dreadful they'll be defensively," Parsons said. "I don't think they'll be able to stop anybody. So there's that, but they're going to have to outscore you. They're going to have to run you out of the gym."
However, Parsons also acknowledged that he likes the addition of Walker Kessler and that Doncic and Reaves can potentially outscore the other teams.
Overall, the upcoming season is a chance for the Lakers to prove that they're a well-rounded team that isn't just dependent on Doncic's outlandish scoring numbers.
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