Can the Lakers Develop Young Players Effectively? Do They Even Try?

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers · Mar 3, 2026 · 18m

The buyout period has come and gone, and the Lakers don't seem to have missed out on much by signing guard Kobe Bufkin as quickly as they did. In the end, very few players of note actually changed squads, and of those that did (Cam Thomas to Milwaukee, for example) it's hard to see how the Lakers would have been their choice.

Would Jeremy Sochan (now in New York) be playing more than Bufkin? Probably, if on the margins, because Bufkin isn't playing at all. But would he be making a material difference? Probably not.

So that's one concern among fans that has passed, but it does lead to another…