How Do the New Look Lakers Stack Up in a New Look Western Conference?

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers · Jul 31, 2026 · 35m

The Lakers are a radically different team this year than last. Better? Worse? About the same?

You could make an argument for all three. But at the least, it's easy to say that the team's floor could be a little higher, assuming good health. And any drop off really depends a lot on your thoughts about losing LeBron. What does it mean that he's no longer on the roster, even as the Lakers arguably improved in a lot of other places?

There's definitely a blueprint in place, even if the construction isn't complete at this point.

At the same time, the Western Conference itself has been pretty…