Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

The Knicks have knocked off the Spurs, putting an exclamation point for the ages on the 2025-26 NBA season. 

And with the conclusion of the year, it's time for a time honored tradition: drawing conclusions and trying to get some lessons about what you need to win a title in this league. Every year, it's easy to react to the team that just won, but is that the best approach? After all, New York becomes the eighth franchise in eight years to hoist the Larry O'Brien. So is there really one template that needs to be followed? 

That said, there ARE things to understand about what we saw, and what happens on the way to the Finals. 

As the NBA's offseason officially begins, the Lakers are now very much on the clock to try and pay off what has been promised to be a big and potentially transformational offseason. 

As they rebuild the thing, what's the model they should look at? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

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On Friday's big show, we spoke with Khobi Price of the California Post about the progress, or potential lack of progress, the Lakers have made replacing some of the front office personnel (think scouts) that are critical to the pre-draft process. And what about the infrastructure of basketball brains that fans have wanted to see built out in time for one of the most consequential offseasons in recent memory? We react to our conversation with Price, looking both at the process of building the organization for the long term while also trying to build out the team right now.

And then there's the Draft itself. How should the Lakers approach the 25th pick? Best player available regardless of position? The guy most likely to be ready for minutes right away? Longer term upside?

Can some combination of that be found at 25, anyway?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

Photo credit: USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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The Lakers are simultaneously undertaking two projects that have some overlap in the Venn Diagram, but aren't entirely aligned. First, they have to think about how to build a winning team around Luka Dončić as quickly as possible, putting enormous pressure on this offseason to be quite excellent. Second, they're engaged in a long-term project of building out the basketball operation and the franchise generally into something far more modern and performing than it has been. 

The former project has its first big tests coming up soon with the Draft and free agency, both of which will provide opportunities to make significant signings and trades. And in that regard, while the Lakers have hired their analytics guy (a real rocket scientist) they haven't (at least publicly) done much else. Who are the scouts scouring the earth for the best available talent? Who is in the room when players do draft workouts? 

The Lakers are building a really big house, hopefully, and everyone wants the foundation to be solid and the furnishings to be top end. Mark Walter took some time developing the Dodgers organization into what it is today, and now it seems to run almost on autopilot, so strong is the culture. But at the same time, that house that the Lakers are working on? Metaphorically speaking, people are coming over soon. There is consequential work to be done. 

And as for the draft, where are the Lakers looking? So many fans are prioritizing the center position... are the Lakers doing the same? Who are some of the names in question? 

We discuss all of this and more with Khobi Price of the California Post. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky, with Guest Khobi Price! 

SEGMENT 1: What's up with the front office? 

SEGMENT 2: What do the Lakers have right now? Do they have the infrastructure they need? 

SEGMENT 3: Looking at the Draft. 

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Well that was insane. 

Down by as much as 29 points, the New York Knicks capped off one of the greatest comebacks in modern sports history, pulling ahead for good on an OG Anunoby tip with 1.2 seconds left for a (to say the least) improbable Game 4 win. Now up 3-1, they seem to have a very strong hold on the series as it returns to San Antonio for Game 6. 

And for San Antonio, basically the only way to prevent what happened Wednesday night from becoming one of the truly iconic moments in modern NBA history, but something that follows them around even more, is to win the series. And they can... if they clean stuff up. None of these games has been a walk. 

So was anything revealed, other than Josh Hart owes Anunoby dinner? 

From there, we discuss a very interesting, very legal sign and trade proposed by cap guru Eric Pincus at Bleacher Report that would send LeBron James to Cleveland for a package centered around Jarrett Allen. Is it enough to get either team to bite, in theory? Yes? But with some trepidation. Like many well constructed teams, you can see why both might like it, and you can see they wouldn't. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: Game 4 madness! 

SEGMENT 2: What the Knicks had that the Spurs missed.

SEGMENT 3: How a LeBron trade could look. 

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The Lakers have a lot of work to do this offseason, and as today's guest Raj Chipalu of Lakers Today notes, they're going to need to compress what normally is a few cycles of team improvement windows (trade deadlines, summertime) into a shorter amount of time if they want to catch up quickly to the leaders atop the West. 

So what does that look like in practice? 

We continue our offseason makeover conversation with Raj trying to figure out where help will come from. At the center position, is it worth taking a big swing for Walker Kessler? Would a less sexy acquisition like Daniel Gafford be a better target? Are high profile wings more likely? Can the Lakers pry someone like Peyton Watson from the Nuggets? 

Or would a better, if riskier, potential solution be to take on the contracts a lot of teams are trying to move? A Cam Johnson or Christian Braun from the Nuggets, for example? Especially if it means moving dead roster spots (Jared Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht) without giving up draft capital.. 

Should the Lakers get a little crazy? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky, with Guest Raj Chipalu!

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The Lakers have a million different directions they can go this offseason, even without having tons of tradable contracts or massive amounts of draft capital. Want to create more cap space? Let guys like LeBron and Rui Hachimura go, and Luke Kennard while they're at it. Want to (more or less) run it back? That's easy enough to facilitate. Maybe Austin Reaves stays, and LeBron goes? 

So when you think about the ways this could go, there is some wiggle room available to dream a little. So if you could put the thing together in the best possible way, what would it look like? 

What's the right price for Rui? What should they do at center? 

We ask big questions like these to special guest Raj Chipalu, of Lakers Today on YouTube (plus Offside and Silver Screen and Roll). 

What would he do this offseason, if he could wave a magic wand? Plus, Raj's thoughts on the season that was. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: What we learned, and didn't learn, from last year. 

SEGMENT 2: What does a successful offseason look like? 

SEGMENT 3: What can the Lakers do? 

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The Lakers have to figure out what their priorities are this offseason, because they may very well have to choose between different needs. 

Is it the wing? 

More bench depth? 

A center that really matches well with Luka Dončić? 

The answer is yes to all of them, and where the Lakers go depends in part on the best player available at each position. Even if you think they'd be better off with a center, if the available wing is a better player, isn't that where you go? So as they wait on Deandre Ayton to make his decision about a player option, they'll be looking at options like Mitchell Robinson, or Robert Williams III. Or would a former All Star like Domantas Sabonis, certain to be made available by the Sacramento Kings, be an option? 

Not for the Lakers, for a variety of reasons. (And he'll be hard to trade, but that's a Sacramento problem, not an LA problem.) 

So there's that! Plus, NBA Finals Game 3 reinforces just how hard all of this is. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: Game 3. Wemby strikes back! 

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Karl-Anthony Towns is having a moment. 

After years of being seen in some circles as not quite good enough to be a critical piece on a winning team, KAT has had an incredible postseason, as the Knicks continue a pretty historic run of playoff dominance. It's not that he's never been good in the postseason before (he has) but he's never been THIS good. And who knows, may never be this good again. 

And it puts things in perspective, showing not only the bar you often need your 2nd guy to clear -- Jalen Brunson has scored 25 points a game in the Finals but with horrible efficiency -- but how often players in this role (see Holmgren, Chet) can fail to come through. Or even your number one, given Wemby's struggles. So does the whole postseason put Austin Reaves in a different framing? Does he seem as disappointing, given what appears to be some pretty good company on the continuum of guys who didn't achieve all the way to expectations? And what does all of this say about roster building more broadly? 

Because part of KAT's success, and the success of the Knicks more broadly, is that the first five guys on that roster are all really good NBA players. They counterbalance strengths and weaknesses, and have very little true one-dimensional skill sets as a group. 

Stuff for Rob Pelinka and crew to consider this summer and for a few summers to come. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

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For much of the year, the expectation was that LeBron James wouldn't be back next season, but Austin Reaves would. Then the vibes (and the results) shifted, and it seemed like both would be back. Now, it looks like James is a little more iffy, but the assumption remains that the Lakers will re-sign Reaves. 

But Brad Turner of the LA Times, speaking on Spectrum Sportsnet (the Lakers TV home) said that Reaves is looking for the maximum amount of money he can get, and isn't interested in giving the Lakers a hometown discount. Some of this is obviously potential posturing, and a ton depends on how much teams like Brooklyn or Chicago -- franchises that have the space to give Reaves that kind of money -- actually are willing to offer, if anything. And then how high the Lakers go. 

Meanwhile, as the pendulum with James seems again to be swinging towards his departure, it's worth asking, could the Lakers lose both of them? 

It's not the most likely outcome, but also isn't impossible. What would that mean for the Lakers this summer? 

And how does the number the Lakers land on -- $30 vs.$35 vs. $40 vs. $45 million a year -- impact how they put a highly competitive team on the floor, not just this year but down the road? 

And what would happen in the unlikely (but not impossible) event that both left? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: Austin wants max money? 

SEGMENT 2: Who might force the Lakers' hand? 

SEGMENT 3: What happens if he leaves? If he AND LeBron go? 

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The Lakers are in a bind. It doesn't seem like they are clamoring for LeBron James to return... but they also may not be able to afford to let him go. James, for his part, has decisons to make. What does he value most next year? Is it a paycheck that aligns with his value? The best chance to compete for a title (all of it being relative)? Proximity to his family? The most comfortable atmosphere, with players whose company he values? 

There's a lot to unpack! 

So that's what we're doing, with the outstanding NBA writer for The Guardian, Claire de Lune. 

What are the dynamics of this relationship? Are the Lakers really thinking everything through? What exactly is LeBron looking for, here? Is it money? Respect? Some combination of the two?

We break it all down... plus some talk about the NBA Finals, and how a seemingly minor sponsorship deal represents something bigger. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 2: What's the future for LeBron? 

SEGMENT 3: What do the Lakers want, exactly? 

5-Hour ENERGY

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DoorDash
From tipoff to overtime, stay in your bag and order on DoorDash.
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