‘An upgrade...’ NBA expert identifies LA Lakers strengths and weaknesses ahead of 2025-26 season

The LA Lakers have assembled a strong roster heading into the 2025-26 NBA season, but they arent perfect, says one NBA insider.

The Los Angeles Lakers have put together quite a great roster ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season.

Knowing that their squad needed some big changes, the front office got to work.

Things didnt get off to a great start for them, as Rob Pelinka cost the Lakers Dorian Finney-Smith with his stringent negotiations.

The team president did redeem himself a few weeks later, helping the Lakers sign Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia .

Then, the Lakers put the cherry on top, as Luka Doncic helped recruit Marcus Smart to the team .

With this strong roster ready to go, where exactly can the Lakers improve? Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Jovan Buha says LA Lakers are still weak defensively LA Lakers expert Jovan Buha spoke on NBA X SiriusXM Radio about the team he covers.

The Lakers roster is quite literally a tale of two ends.

While Buha is a fan of the offensive potential this roster possesses, he does think that they are weak defensively compared to the best teams in the NBA.

On paper, this should be a Top-10, if not a Top-5 offense.

You got Luka, you got Austin, LeBron, Deandre, Rui, even going into Marcus Smart and Gabe Vincent.

Youve got six-seven guys who can drop 15+ points on any given night.

To me, its the defensive end where if youre looking at Smart, Gabe, and Jarred Vanderbilt as your three best perimeter defenders, its solid.

But when you look at what OKC has, when you look at what Minnesota has, when you look at what Houston has, I dont really think its in the same class.

So I think theyre still on the deficit on the defensive end, and thats where I think they need to find an upgrade.

They are still at a deficit on the defensive end @jovanbuha breaks down the Lakers defensive woes with @TermineRadio & @Jumpshot8 Listen to NBA Today, weekdays from 4-7pm ET! pic.twitter.com/9NOda5XI6p SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) August 19, 2025 Rob Pelinka must try to land another defensive star Rob Pelinka signed Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart , two solid 3-&-D stars, to the team.

But they, along with Jarred Vanderbilt, arent going to be enough to compete defensively in the NBA.

The Lakers must look at their remaining assets and see if they can find a trade asset on the market.

Players like Dalton Knecht and Gabe Vincent should be on the trading block.

Knecht, in particular, has been in trade rumors after his disastrous NBA Summer League performance.

If Pelinka can make a trade for another strong defender, he should jump on the opportunity.

Their current roster is strong and could cause some problems for teams in the West.

But they will fall short against the elite sides in the conference..

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