How Well Are the Lakers Set Up for the Future? Breaking Down ESPN's Future Rankings...

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers · Sep 17, 2026 · 30m

Every year, ESPN breaks out its Future Rankings, looking at the prospects every team in the league has going forward, based on things like roster quality, draft capital, financial flexibility, quality of management and quality of market.

Last year, the Lakers were 8th. This year, they're 13th.

Why the downgrade? Mostly because the financial flexibility and draft capital they had last summer was used this summer. So they fell in those categories. Thankfully, they did rise in roster quality, but the overall effect is a downgrade. So what comes next? On the one hand, 13th isn't bad. To the…