Former NBA champion Iman Shumpert expects the new-look Los Angeles Lakers to be a play-in team, at best, in the upcoming season.
“I think it’s going to be a play-in-type situation,” Shumper told “Gil’s Arena” of the Lakers, via PurpGold. “I feel like they [Lakers] going to really be forcing it at the end
“…It’s going to be borderline, and it’s going to be borderline on some Luka got to pull a rabbit out of hat, and he needs somebody to lose over here,” added Shumpert.
Lakers Not Projected to Compete
Shumpert’s projection may not be far off.
Oddsmakers have set the Lakers’ over/under wins total at 46.5 games. Last season the four play-in teams — the Phoenix Suns (45-37), Portland Trail Blazers (42-40), LA Clippers (42-40) and Golden State Warriors (37-45) — all won less than 46 games. However, this season, the bottom of the West is expected to be more competitive due to the projected rise of a healthy-again New Orleans Pelicans, the super-talented Utah Jazz and a Dallas Mavericks with a returning Kyrie Irving and a second-year Cooper Flagg. Some expect the Clippers to remain competitive despite losing Kawhi Leonard.
Brendan Haywood, though, disagreed with Shump’s take, arguing that the addition of Walker Kessler will make the Lakers a dangerous team.
“Luka Doncic needs a lob threat,” said Haywood. “Walker Kessler is going to dictate what Luka does, because he’s going to use him to read the defense. He’s going to come off that mid pick-and-roll, and you’re gonna be in a drop coverage because you better not switch. And that’ll allow Luka to find [open shooters] in the corner.
“So, Walker Kessler means a lot,” Haywood stressed. “He’s gonna walk into double-doubles every night. He’s gonna get at least three lobs a game.”
Key to Lakers Success
Seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry made similar comments recently when he called Kessler “the key” to the Lakers’ success. The former Laker went as far as to call Kessler more critical to the team than even Doncic and Austin Reaves.
“When you watch what Walker Kessler brings to the game, he’s so incredibly skilled and we haven’t had a big since AD that can block shots like that, pop out for threes,” Horry told ESPN’s “Mason & Ireland Show.”
“So I just hope he stays healthy — him missing damn near all season, how much rust has he developed?” Horry pondered. “Will he be able to knock that rust off and come back and be the center that everybody’s expecting to be?”
“So it’s going to be really interesting to see what he can do because he is the key,” Horry declared about Kessler.
“Not Luka [Doncic], not AR [Austin Reaves], he is.”
Horry further suggested that Kessler, one of the best rim protectors in the league, could help neutralize the threats posed by Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic, Chet Holmgren and Aperen Sengun — four All-Star bigs he will have to contend with in the West. Further to that point, Kessler had one of the individual defensive metrics while guarding Wemby in the 2024-25 season before going down with an injury last year.
The Lakers kick off their new season against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21.
Lakers Get Harsh Reality Check From NBA Champion Days Before Training Camp