If Lakers’ Big 3 is great, they could become elite

For the Lakers to be great next season, one thing needs to happen.

The Lakers’ Big 3 needs to be dominant.

Luka Doncic needs to play MVP-level basketball. Austin Reaves needs to be a borderline All-Star. And Walker Kessler needs to transform into an All-Defensive player.

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If those things happen, the Lakers could be fringe contenders.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic reacts after scoring a basket during the first quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, on Monday, March 16, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The biggest wild card?

The 25-year-old Kessler only played five games last season after suffering a torn labrum in his left shoulder that required season-ending surgery. We don’t really know what he’s capable of yet considering he has only played three seasons for the struggling Jazz.

For the Lakers to be among the elite NBA teams, Kessler needs to be a screen-setting, rim-running big who helps get Doncic and Reaves open on offense, in addition to being a defensive beast down low.

He needs to be the type of player who Rudy Gobert is for the Timberwolves or Chet Holmgren is for the Thunder.

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If he blossoms into that, the Lakers could have one of the top Big 3s in the NBA.

Nic Claxton (33) of the Brooklyn Nets reverse slams in front of Walker Kessler (24) of the Utah Jazz during the first half of a game, Saturday, December 21, 2024, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Robert Sabo / NY Post

Kessler has already shown that he’s one of the top rebounders and rim patrollers in the league. According to NBA.com, he contested 7.5 shots per game at the rim in 2024-2025, which tied him for the fifth most in the NBA.

Now he’s more mature and motivated considering he’s playing for the 17-time championship Lakers instead of a team that hasn’t made the playoffs the last four years. And he’s playing alongside a top-four player instead of being on a roster that hasn’t had an All-Star the last three years.

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Not to mention, the Lakers mortgaged their future on him (giving up two unprotected first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps in a sign-and-trade with…

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Publish date : 2026-09-22 21:48:00

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