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Kendrick Perkins highlights the Lakers' biggest weakness with LeBron out: "In the interior"
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- Kendrick Perkins highlights the Lakers' biggest weakness with LeBron out: "In the interior"
The Los Angeles Lakers enter the 2025-26 season with more questions than answers. In light of LeBron James ' sciatica, which is reportedly expected to sideline him until the middle of November, pundits are discussing potential issues that may hinder them early in the season.
While ESPN's Bobby Marks surmised that the Purple & Gold may encounter scoring issues, former NBA champion and popular media personality Kendrick Perkins pointed out a problem that could give them headaches down the line: the lack of high-quality big men.
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Double-big lineups
The NBA is a "copycat" league, with teams often replicating the strategies of successful teams. While teams continue to thrive in the pace-and-space era popularized by the Golden State Warriors ' dominance in the 2010s, a few teams have begun to employ traditional big-man lineups with success.
According to Perkins, the Lakers may find trouble when dealing with these teams, now and especially in the postseason, if they don't tweak their roster.
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"It's something that's trending in the basketball world, right? And it's the double bigs, right?" Perk noted .
L.A. made a splash in the offseason when they acquired former top pick Deandre Ayton , who's a legit 7-footer with a soft touch around the basket. However, the depth at the center position is reed thin with Jaxson Hayes backing Ayton up and Christian Koloko bringing up the rear.
"Is JJ Redick going to play Jaxson Hayes and Deandre Ayton a lot of minutes together on the floor? We don't know, but probably not," he continued. "But they're going to need to, because think about it: you go against a team like the Houston Rockets, you might be facing (Alperen) Sengun and Steven Adams. You go against OKC, obviously, Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren. Dallas with AD and Dereck Lively."
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Having a bona fide stud in the middle will significantly help the Lakers' cause. However, having just one won't be enough in the stacked Western Conference.
"Yes, Deandre Ayton is going to solve some of the problem, but with the trend of teams going with the double-big lineup, that's where they're still going to have trouble the most — in the interior," Perkins emphasized.
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Offensive struggles
Meanwhile, Marks stressed that even though the Lakers have a do-it-all point guard in Luka Doncic , finding someone to replace LeBron's offensive contributions is a lot easier said than done. After all, King James averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game last season.
"How do you replace a player that scored in the mid-20s consistently every year here? And when you look at what the Lakers tried doing last night, they basically have been trying to force-feed Dalton Knecht and trying to give him a bigger role here. And he has certainly been inconsistent," Marks shared.
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Knecht, the team's first-round pick last year, is averaging 9.4 points in the preseason, shooting a dismal 30.4 percent from the field.
"I think you know what you're going to get with Luka every night, and you do know what you're going to get with Austin Reaves, but it's who out of the role players, the complementary players, is going to step in that role," Marks added. "But I'm just concerned if you don't have enough offense in some of these games."
At 40 years old, LeBron continues to defy Father Time and naysayers by playing at an elite level. However, as he gets older and his body becomes more prone to injury, the Lakers must now find ways to compensate for James' contributions while he recovers on the sidelines.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Oct 17, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
