Lakers biggest questions: Walker Kessler, wing depth and title hopes

The Post’s Khobi Price addresses the biggest Lakers questions.The Lakers aren’t asking Reaves and Kessler to be players they already aren’t or do things on the court they haven’t before. For Reaves, it’s to be the natural-born scorer he is.Be a high-level playmaker.

Complement Luka Doncic when he’s on the floor and run the offense when he’s not on the court.Be a leader. For Kessler, it’s to be a force on the interior on both ends of the floor.

Set strong screens.Roll hard to the basket.

Protect the paint and be one of the league’s best rim protectors.  Nothing new for either player. But after the franchise invested long-term, nine-figure deals, the Lakers need both star players to be consistent — with performance and availability — in ways they haven’t before. The Lakers didn’t need to make drastic changes to their roster to be a good team. They already were that, coming off a 53-win season in 2025-26 in which they won their first playoff series in three years. That was coming off their first 50-win season in a few years. But instead of running back a roster that didn’t have room to grow for years to come, the Lakers opted to get younger with the hopes the core can grow into a special group. Will they be proven right?Conventional wisdom says that a team led by Doncic and Reaves is enough for the Lakers to be an elite offensive team for an entire season.But that hasn’t been the case since the Lakers acquired the Slovenian guard in February 2025. The Lakers have been a good offensive team since then.And borderline great.But not truly elite for a sustained stretch.Which are not only the expectations but also what must happen for the Lakers to reach their ceiling and contend in the Western Conference.We got a glimpse of the Lakers being an elite offensive team in the first 20 games led by Doncic and Reaves to start 2025-26.

Can that be replicated for an entire season? The Lakers have a lot of options who could get playing ...