Category: NBA

Despite owning four top-five finishes and six All-NBA First Team nods, Luka Dončić has never been all that close to winning MVP. Through eight years, his best chance has come in 2023-24, when he finished third behind Nikola Jokić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But even then, Dončić only received four first-place votes as Jokić ran away with his third MVP trophy in four seasons.

As he continues his prime, the 27-year-old is open about wanting a distinguished honor like that while still making clear the ultimate goal is hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy alongside his teammates.

“It would definitely mean a lot,” Dončić told Melissa Rohlin of the New York Post. “Obviously a championship, that’s what you play for every game. That’s what you train for everyday. But obviously it would be nice to win the MVP also. Not everybody can say they have an MVP, so obviously that would be nice.”

Dončić understands individual and team-wide accolades are intertwined. If he and the Lakers are competing for a championship because he’s performing at a high level, his likelihood of finally winning MVP is much higher than if they’re sitting well below title contention. As such, his priority is team success.

“But that comes with the team first. If you don’t play good, you’re never going to win championships or MVP,” Dončić said. “So, we’ve got to play good. I’m very excited to go to war with these people. I think we had a great training camp and we’re ready to go.”

As I see it, the key for Dončić to win MVP is sustaining the MVP-caliber peaks he seemingly reaches for extended stretches every season (well, duh). Too often, he’ll have a month or prolonged period in which the decision-making and/or shot-making are underwhelming and the defense is a glaring issue. Other months, he’s an ethereal scorer and offensive engine whose defense perks up (and can even be a positive!) to look like the best player on the planet.

Now, he doesn’t have to average 38-8-7 on 63% true shooting featuring impactful defense for a full season like he did last March but 31-8-7 on 57% true shooting with 71 assists to 47 turnovers like last December cannot happen either. He has to elevate his floor to better complement his ceiling. And if he does that, the elusive MVP might be his as he leads the Lakers near the top of the Western Conference.

You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.

The Golden State Warriors are already missing center Kristaps Porzingis to start the 2026-27 NBA season, and head coach Steve Kerr will have even thinner front court depth on opening night. According to Danny Emerman of The SF Standard, the Dubs have ruled center Charles Bassey out for Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Bassey was listed as questionable on the injury report with knee tendinitis heading into the day. It seems Bassey was unable to make enough progress to play.

In 17 games (16 starts) with the Santa Cruz Warriors last season, Bassey averaged 20.4 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks in 29.1 minutes per game on 61.0%/40.5%/.65.9% shooting. In eight NBA games, he averaged 2.9 points and 2.6 rebounds on 62.5% shooting from the field in 6.6 minutes per game (15.6 points, 14.3 rebounds, 2.7 blocks, and 1.4 steals per 36 minutes).

Given his impressive G-League line, and a positive impression he made with Golden State down the stretch last season, Bassey re-signed a one-year deal with the Warriors. During the preseason, with Porzingis out, Bassey was the clear third center behind Al Horford and Draymond Green. With Bassey sidelined, rookie two-way big man Graham Ike will likely crack the rotation. Rookie first-round pick Yaxel Lendeborg may also see a few minutes as the small-ball five.

The third preseason stint of Bronny James’ career was not kind to him. In five games, the Los Angeles Lakers guard averaged 2.2 points, 2.8 assists and 2.4 rebounds while playing 16.4 minutes each night. He committed 12 turnovers and shot 25% from the floor and 12.5% beyond the arc. It was certainly not the sort of production that would endear James to anyone as he vies for a slim chance at rotation minutes to begin the year.

His head coach, JJ Redick, even acknowledged James’ slow preseason. But according to a report from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, James has not been fully healthy and Redick believes he hasn’t always been put in situations most conducive to success during training camp.

“James, for his part, has been limited by a quad contusion he suffered just before the start of training camp, sources told ESPN,“ McMenamin wrote, ”and Redick added that the third-year guard has often shared the court with training camp invitees, rather than rotation players and noted how James finished last season as a playoff contributor.“

The Lakers presumably will not be counting on James for crucial minutes to open 2026-27 or whenever they’re mostly healthy. But James did occasionally crack the rotation last season and Redick’s previously harped on the important of back-end bench guys to step up when others are unavailable. He and the entire Lakers organization will hope James’ quad contusion was the catalyst for his poor preseason and that he’ll be able to offer solid minutes if called upon.

Ahead of James in the guard room are the likes of Austin Reaves, Luka Dončić (if he counts), Collin Sexton, Quentin Grimes and Matisse Thybulle, though I suspect the latter two here will see their fair share of minutes on the wings. Others such as Jaden Hardy, Chris Mañon and rookie Cameron Carr will duke it out with James for spot minutes in the backcourt.

When in form, James’ on-ball defense, shooting (38.6% from 3 last year) and connective passing can be of use. But he’ll have to prove last year was not an aberration beyond the arc and that he’s at least a mild threat with the ball in his hands, which has been a struggle throughout his career.

You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.

Dear Phoenix Suns Nation,

A year ago, if someone had told you that coming into this season, the Suns would be looking to build off a 45-win season and a playoff appearance, what would you have said?

Your response and perspective may dictate how you feel about this season.

Whether it’s the 2022 New York Giants, who made the NFC divisional round and haven’t returned to the playoffs since, or the Sacramento Kings back in 2023, who were the Western Conference’s third seed and have been at the bottom of the standings ever since, just because a team has a surprising season doesn’t mean that the following one is just as successful.

But it also doesn’t mean that expectations should be dimmed by the surprise of the previous season. Based on their continuity, offseason acquisitions, and internal development, the Suns should be a better team than they were a season ago, pending health, of course.

The team has brought back an overwhelming majority of its key players in a conference that saw a lot of turnover from a season ago. LeBron James is in the city of brotherly love, Kawhi Leonard is in Canada, and the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers’ starting lineups are vastly different from what they were a season ago. With Jalen Green healthy to start the year, unlike a season ago, the team is looking at their season-long starting lineup set to be mostly the same from game 1 to game 82, once they decide whether Khaman Maluach or Oso Ighodaro will be the team’s starting center.

The only new starter on the team? While there are numerous questions about him off the court, he should be a significant upgrade over Royce O’Neale at the starting power forward spot because of Bridges’ ability to create his own shot and experience playing alongside ball-dominant guards. Luke Kennard, who is set to replace Grayson Allen, is coming off the best playoff performances of his career and is one of the NBA’s best three-point shooters. Expect Phoenix to jack up a lot of triples this year.

Collin Gillespie, Dillon Brooks, Jordan Goodwin, and Oso Ighodaro? All back in Suns uniforms, with new contracts. Along with Mark Williams as well, but he should be out for the majority of the season, dealing with a shoulder injury he suffered in the offseason. The extensions and re-signings of key members of the team’s core from a season ago add stability that should provide the team and players more confidence to grow on their strong seasons while in the early or middle primes of their careers.

The Western Conference, however, is deeper than it was a season ago. Even if the Suns are a better team than they were a year ago, it might not translate to more wins.

The top eight in the Western Conference all made moves to stay competitive, but the teams in the bottom half of the standings have either made moves or are getting players back from injury that should make them more formidable.

The anti-tanking rules, along with the 2026 draft class projected to be one of the most star-studded in recent memory, have raised the floor of many of the conference’s worst teams from last season. The incentives to bottom out and lose as much as possible are gone, and teams in the conference have responded.

The Utah Jazz, who selected Kansas’ Darryn Peterson second overall in the draft and traded for former Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. back in February, are expected to take a leap this year despite losing young center Walker Kessler to the Lakers in free agency. The Memphis Grizzlies, albeit a young team, are expected to make some noise after taking who many executives believe is the most NBA-ready prospect in Cam Boozer. And the Dallas Mavericks, who were without All-Star guard Kyrie Irving for the entirety of the 2025-26 season, should be vastly improved from last year with Cooper Flagg a year older and the team another season removed from the disastrous Luke Dončić trade.

The Suns might be better than they were a season ago. They might not have the drop-offs that the Kings and Giants mean, and it might mean that they’re out of the playoffs again, let alone the play-in tournament. But if you can remember just 365 days ago when the idea of the Suns playing in the playoffs sounded as likely as the Cowboys in the Super Bowl, then maybe it’ll be easier to deal with whatever the 2026-2027 season has in store.

No matter good or bad, like every season, it’ll be an entertaining one. It’s NBA basketball.

Sincerely,
Holden Sherman

In case you had somehow forgotten or missed the news: the Los Angeles Lakers begin their 2026-27 season Wednesday night at home against the Golden State Warriors. To commemorate the start of another year, Luka Dončić, Los Angeles’ unparalleled face of the franchise, took out a full-page ad in the LA Times to address Lakers fans ahead of Wednesday’s season opener.

Dončić touches on the team’s ultimate goal of winning a championship, the pride he and his teammates feeling wearing Lakers colors, the unifying nature of sports fandom, how welcomed he’s felt in Los Angeles since arriving 20 months ago and a slew of other topics.

A full page ad from Luka Dončić is in today’s LA Times pic.twitter.com/7KbUydvYL1

— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) October 21, 2026

Here’s the full transcript of the message from Luka:

DEAR LA,
Tonight we start our run for a championship.
Every player dreams of holding that trophy. To do it for all of you amazing fans would mean everything to us.
Each of us understands what it means to put on this purple and gold jersey and follow the players who wore it before us. It means so much because of the passion and dedication that generations of you all have shown for this team.
I see it everywhere. The hats, the flags on cars, the murals. This city has people from all over the world, speaking every language, and the Lakers are the thing that brings everyone together.
We have a special team. We know what you expect, and we are going to do everything in our power to deliver it.
From the moment I arrived in LA, you welcomed me with open arms. That is something I will never forget.
So here is my promise to you: we are going to give you everything we have, every single night.
No excuses. No nights off.
But we cannot do this alone. You are the best fans in the world, and we are going to need you. Every game, bring it with us.
Let’s go.

During his days with the Dallas Mavericks, Dončić embedded himself in the Dallas community. That’s seemingly carried over to his Lakers tenure as well. He’s repeatedly been involved with the Los Angeles community and made clear how at home he feels in the city.

When wildfires devastated parts of Los Angeles in 2025, Dončić, shortly after being traded to the Lakers, donated $500,000 through the Luka Dončić Foundation. When Dončić learned of a GoFundMe campaign to help restore a vandalized mural of Kobe and Gianna Bryant in April 2025, he met the $5,000 fundraiser goal himself. On other occasions, he’s helped enhance game-day experiences for fans.

Wednesday’s ad is yet another example of Dončić connecting with the Lakers fanbase and showcasing his commitment to being the face of the franchise. Because of the attention and hype surrounding Dončić‘s entrance to the NBA 8.5 years ago, much has been expected of him for many years. And because of how well he’s played, earning six All-NBA nods and four top-five MVP finishes, much has continued to be expected of him.

Of course, those expectations largely revolve around his on-court play. But a superstar of Dončić’s magnitude is often required to stretch their scope beyond in-game performance. Dončić clearly understands and embraces his responsibilities. No matter which city and franchise he’s called home, he’s been a mainstay in the community and sought to better the lives of his supporters in some capacity. Now, it’s time to see whether this team is ready to reach the championship aspirations Dončić has laid out.

You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.

Well well well, anybody feeling a little bit of deja vu today? The Golden State Warriors open in the same building, against the same team, on the exact same date as last season. Except this time around there’s no LeBron James and you won’t get a Brandin Podziemski performance. The Warriors’ injuries are already painting a picture to start this brand new season.

Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers
When: Wednesday, October 21, 2026 | 7:00 PM PT
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: ESPN
Radio: 95.7 The Game

Year 18 for Steph. Year one felt just like yesterday 🥹

Bay Area’s own 💙 pic.twitter.com/6jSX4NGZ4K

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) October 21, 2026

It feels like while the Warriors have been lined up to see the doctor, the Lakers went shopping for new talent. LA rebuilt the post-LeBron roster at full speed, bringing in nine new veterans, handing Walker Kessler four years and $130 million to protect the rim, and locking up Austin Reaves for four years and $180 million. Meanwhile Golden State spent most of the time since the draft refreshing medical updates like they were lottery numbers.

Unfortunately for Dub Nation, those numbers haven’t hit yet. Jimmy Butler is still working back from the torn ACL with a late January or early February target, Moses Moody is rehabbing a ruptured patellar tendon, and Kristaps Porzingis isn’t even traveling to LA while he remains out indefinitely. Then on the eve of the opener, the one guy who never misses games got ruled out: Brandin Podziemski, who played all 82 games last season, is sitting with lower back soreness, and Charles Bassey is questionable with right patellar tendinopathy. If Bassey sits too, Golden State takes the floor with just 10 healthy players on standard contracts and Draymond probably playing center full-time.

Let’s not forget that Steph, 38 years old and stepping into his remarkable 18th season, caught his foot at open practice and limped to the locker room with a right ankle sprain. He’s officially probable after a full practice Monday, so breathe. But Dub Nation absolutely remembers that last season Curry played 43 games and the Warriors dropped 26 of the 39 he missed.

Luka Doncic is the clear face of the Lakers’ franchise in LeBron’s absence, and he definitely has some firepower alongside him with Reaves. Doncic has averaged 30.7 points per game against Golden State for his career, and tonight he gets to aim that at a frontcourt of Draymond, a minutes-managed Al Horford, Georges Niang and maybe a big man with a sore knee. Luka also apparently took out an ad talking about L.A.’s march toward the title beginning tonight? Fascinating.

Luka Doncic places full-page ad in LA Times ahead of Lakers' season opener on Wednesday.

"Dear LA, tonight we start our run for a championship."

(via @DanWoikeSports) pic.twitter.com/uPEjPxnFuj

— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) October 21, 2026

The Warriors are 4-0 against the Lakers on opening night in the Curry era, including a 119-109 win in this same arena last October. This time the Lakers have the size, the depth and a new sense of creativity and freedom after the departure of King James.  Golden State has Steph, Draymond and a freshly taped right ankle that has to hold up against the best guard tandem in the Pacific.

Oh and YAXEL POWER. Let Yaxel Lendeborg’s Rookie of the Year campaign begin in earnest tonight!

Warriors reportedly contacted Bucks about Kristaps Porziņģis trade amid illness originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors have contacted the Milwaukee Bucks about a potential Kristaps Porziņģis trade, “The Athletic’s” Sam Amick and Nick Friedell reported Wednesday, citing a league source.

The Bucks are among the teams Golden State recently has reached out to, according to the source, who spoke anonymously to describe ongoing deliberations. Milwaukee is not believed to be interested, though the outreach shows how actively the Warriors are searching for a solution as uncertainty around Porziņģis continues on the day of their 2026-27 NBA season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The talks follow a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania that the 31-year-old is “seriously contemplating his future in basketball” as he deals with recurring symptoms of POTS, an autoimmune condition.

Porziņģis signed a two-year, $40 million contract extension this past summer, with only $3 million guaranteed for next season. Golden State acquired him from the Atlanta Hawks for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield before the February trade deadline, and he averaged 16.1 points and 5.3 rebounds in 17 games for the Warriors during the 2025-26 season.

The Warriors had hoped his absence would be short, but that hope has faded. General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. ruled Porziņģis out of the early part of training camp on Sept. 28, and Porziņģis met with Dunleavy and vice president of player health and performance Rick Celebrini at Chase Center last week. In a statement Wednesday, the team said the conversations will remain private.

“We are not anticipating Kristaps being around the team in the immediate future,” the Warriors said.

Warriors Statement On Kristaps Porzingis: pic.twitter.com/2hCAvCt9TY

— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) October 21, 2026

The Athletic reported the Warriors viewed the re-signing as a gamble they were comfortable with, partly because Porziņģis’ $20 million salary could be included in a larger trade if he again struggled to stay on the floor. Because Golden State is hard-capped at the second apron, it cannot take back more salary than it sends out in any deal.

The Warriors open the season against the Los Angeles Lakers without Porziņģis, Jimmy Butler (ACL rehab) or Moses Moody (torn patellar tendon rehab), with the search for a Porziņģis trade still underway.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

As the New York Knicks raised their championship banner on Tuesday night, some members of the New York Rangers were at Madison Square Garden to witness the historic moment.

In June, the Knicks won their first championship in 53 years, bringing a joyful energy and uniting the entire city of New York.

Sharing a practice facility and both playing at The World’s Most Famous Arena, the Rangers and Knicks are bonded together under the MSG umbrella.

For the Rangers, witnessing the Knicks win a championship and seeing the impact it had on the city was something the whole organization took to heart.

“It’s inspiring,” Mike Sullivan said. “It’s inspiring when a group has witnessed the ultimate success in their respective sport. When it’s close to you, these guys, we have lunch with the Knicks a lot, so there’s some familiarity. I know both teams root for one another. We couldn’t be more proud of them and I think a night like last night is inspiring for our guys,

Noah Laba, Gabe Perreault, Will Cuylle, Alexis Lafrenière, Vladislav Gavrikov, Sean Durzi, and Eeli Tolvanen were all in attendance for the Knicks’ opening-night game on Tuesday night, in which the team received their championship rings and raised the championship banner.

“It was great,” Vladislav Gavrikov said about attending the Knicks game. “The atmosphere, the building was electric. Those moments that they showed on the jumbotron, the video and everything, you are getting goosebumps to that. Obviously, that was a special night.”

The Rangers got a taste of what it could be like to be a champion in New York by watching the Knicks this summer and now further realize the magnitude sports has on the city.

“I think we saw it all summer, the parade and just all of the streets,” Perreault said of the Knicks’ championship win. “It shows you the fan base in New York and obviously if we could do that one day, it would be super cool.”

We’re in a weird and fractured time for TV. Streaming services have made traditional cable packages more obsolete. This has left live sports in a weird spot, specifically in regard to local TV broadcasts.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been caught in the midst of this change. Their previous cable partner, FanDuel Sports Network, shut down at the end of last season. As a result, the Cavs and four other NBA teams turned to DAZN, a sports streaming company, to carry their local broadcasts. The Cavs announced a multi-year deal with DAZN earlier in September.

It costs $119.99 to watch the Cavs’ DAZN broadcast this season. There’s also a $139.99 ultimate tier that allows for more streams and alternative angles and feeds. That dollar amount is in line with most other teams that offer a season subscription. However, the lack of over-the-air broadcasts or alternative ways to watch Cavs games locally through cable led Awful Announcingto rank the Cavs last in their local broadcast accessibility rankings.

Awful Announcing’s criteria for ranking all 30 teams were simple and are explained below:

“Methodology: Each team was compared based on the cost of its direct-to-consumer streaming service, the number of major cable providers on which it is available, the number of exclusive national games, the number of over-the-air games, and the number of streaming-exclusive games”

They used that criteria to measure every team and conclude that the Cavs were the least accessible. Here’s their explanation as to why:

“The Cleveland Cavaliers are the least accessible NBA team to watch for the 2026-27 season. The main reason is that they are one of five teams not available on cable, as they signed an exclusive deal with DAZN. What makes them worse than the other four teams? They will have 59 games exclusive to streaming, including DAZN, which costs $120. Then, 10 other games will be on other platforms because they are national exclusives. If the Cavaliers’ local games were on cable, that wouldn’t be such a big problem, since the package would include the national games. But because they aren’t, fans will need to subscribe to another service to watch those 10 games, in addition to the $120 they already spent on DAZN. On the bright side, at least 15 local games will be simulcast over the air.”

The issue with the Cavs streaming partnership is the exclusivity of the deal. If you want to watch the 59 exclusive DAZN games, you need to buy the subscription package to do so. There’s no option to bundle with cable or anything else. Additionally, it’s cheaper and easier to watch the local broadcasts of the 29 other out-of-market teams through NBA League Pass ($109.99 a season) than it is to just watch just the Cavs games in the Cleveland area.

Not all teams have embraced the model that the Cavs have. The Atlanta Hawks will be broadcasting their games on Amazon Prime. While that does require a subscription (roughly $54 for the full season), that subscription comes with other perks as well, including access to other national NBA broadcasts.

Other teams like the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns are prioritizing traditional over-the-air broadcasts that just require a TV antenna to access. Both also offer streaming options as well for those who would prefer that.

There’s also a conversation to be had about the increase of national NBA broadcasts. Instead of just ESPN, ABC, and TNT exclusively broadcasting national TV games, there’s now ESPN, ABC, NBC, Peacock, and Amazon Prime doing so. The latter two require subscriptions to access.

Figuring out how to navigate local broadcasts in this increasingly splintered TV world is an unenviable task. It’s not as simple as it used to be when cable was much more prevalent. That said, this is an area the Cavs organization should look to improve. Being the least accessible local TV market isn’t ideal for local fans or the organization.

It was as if it was June again back inside Madison Square Garden as the players and their families soaked up championship ring night at the Knicks’ home opener.

The wives and girlfriends of the beloved championship team, who brought home a first NBA title to New York in 53 years, gave a behind-the-scenes look at the celebratory night Wednesday that saw two new banners go up into the rafters and 22-carat rings put on fingers.

Lexi Sousa, girlfriend of Tyler Kolek, and Shannon Hart, wife of Josh Hart, both shared videos of their partners walking out to receive their rings from Walt Frazier on the court.

“My champ!!” Sousa wrote over the video in an Instagram story, while Shannon inserted three smiling crying emojis in her post.

Sousa also shared a photo of her and Kolek posing with the new bling following the Knicks’ 106-100 season-opening loss to the 76ers.

The backup guard wore a Knicks bomber jacket with jeans and loafers while Sousa, who wore the ring, sported a shirt with No. 23 on it paired with jeans, black heels and an orange bag.

“Ring szn,” she wrote.

Ahead of the game, Shannon posted an outfit video on TikTok alongside Hart.

“We are back with this game day fit series. Today is the first game of the season, which is super exciting, right?” Shannon said as she looked back at Hart, who said “Yep!”

Shannon wore a Skims bodysuit and Mugler leggings under a Isabel Marant leather jacket paired with her blue Hermès bag.

Hart sported a white Skims tee with a brown Acne Studios jacket, Amiri jeans and Hermès loafers.

“Lets’s go Knicks!” Shannon said at the end of the video before the couple shared a kiss.

Ali Brunson was also in the house to support husband Jalen Brunson alongside their daughter, Jordyn.

The 2-year-old was seen hanging out with grandfather Rick Brunson pregame, and later the Knicks captain and NBA Finals MVP picked her up and gave her a kiss while a smiling Ali could be seen in the background.

Ali, a Pilates instructor and licensed physical therapist, posted a photo of the back of her and Jordyn while looking at the Madison Square Garden court.

The high school sweetheart couple was spotted in the building two times during the offseason for a pair of Harry Styles concerts, including one where the major pop star shouted out Brunson and his NBA championship.

Jordyn Woods-Towns, wife of Karl-Anthony Towns, was also in attendance and debuted her new gold bag — the same bag, just in a different shade than what proved to be her lucky orange Knicks bag last season — of her Woods by Jordyn clothing line.

The Tux Clutch Mini in ‘Trophy Gold’ is a limited edition of the bag and retails at $155.

Tuesday’s game swung back-and-forth often throughout the first half until the 76ers went on a 29-18 run in the third quarter that helped them leave New York with a win.

The Knicks travel to Boston on Friday before coming back home for two games against the Magic and Pistons.

If you wanted proof that absence makes the heart grow fonder, look no further than how much of a void Collin Sexton left in the Lakers’ preseason. 

When he signed with Los Angeles over the summer, the expectations for Sexton were simple. Get buckets, get downhill and spell Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves from having to bring the ball up the court every possession. 

Those duties haven’t changed. But their importance may have been undersold given the other options on the roster. 

With every audacious Jaden Hardy pull-up and Bronny James’ Herculean attempt to create space against an end-of-the-bench defender, it became clearer that Sexton’s skillset on the team isn’t a luxury, but rather a necessity. 

It is unfair and unwise to expect Sexton to replicate the caliber of offense that walked out the door with LeBron James, Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard. But he will have to be a facsimile of what they brought to the table. 

At 6’3”, Sexton may not look like he has the stature to take on such a large responsibility, but make no mistake, he’s a basketball-playing pitbull. He dribbles with a snarl. He dashes with a snarl. He defends with a snarl. He’s the living embodiment of a snarl. 

Sexton’s bite can also back up his bark.

The combo guard weaves and tunnels around and underneath the defense thanks to his quick first step and plethora of inside-and-out dribbles. He attacks and asks questions second. 

This aggressive approach is why Sexton averaged 12.9 drives in just 23 minutes per game. For context, that number would have ranked third on the Lakers last season behind only Dončić and Reaves. 

It’s not just his ability to get downhill. He also has the bulk and craft to get shots up when he touches the paint.

Sexton bulldozed his way to 271 attempts within five feet last season, according to the league’s tracking data. That number is more than notable players like James Harden, De’Aaron Fox and Jalen Brunson.

These drives should help start the blender next to the stars and create advantages for second units devoid of shot creation.

He is not the athletic runaway train that James was, but he can help ensure the north and south dimension of the offense is not absent altogether.

Unlike who the Lakers trotted out in the preseason, Sexton is also simply a professional who has done the job the team requires before. 

With eight years of reps under his belt, Sexton has finished in the 80th percentile or higher in usage rate six times and in the 82nd percentile or higher in assist % at his position the last three seasons.

Beyond his credible on-ball juice, Sexton’s outside shooting should also boost his functionality and viability in any lineup. Despite being known more for the ferocity of his drives, Sexton has quietly been one of the steadier shooting guards since entering the league. 

Although he is not going to shoot off pindowns or flare screens like Kennard, Sexton is not a player defenses can willfully ignore either, especially in standstill situations. 

Last season, Sexton converted 44.6% of his 175 catch-and-shoot threes. It’s a number that will definitely play next to two of the best drive-and-kick players in the league. 

Like any other role player, Sexton is also not without his warts. 

His aggressiveness will lead to turnovers. His defense is often more performative than impactful. And he has yet to prove himself on a team with actual postseason aspirations. 

All that said, the Lakers ultimately do not need Sexton to be James, Smart or even Kennard this season. That would help, but it is not realistic. Instead, they need him to be exactly who he has been throughout career with hopefully a little fine-tuning along the way.

How successful he will be is still unknown as it remains to be seen when Sexton will finally make his debut. As of this piece, the guard is listed as questionable for the Lakers’ season opener against the Golden State Warriors.

If the preseason was any indication, Los Angeles can not afford Sexton to miss any considerable amount of time this year. His importance is due to, yes, his underrated talent, but also the uninspiring caliber of the Lakers’ alternatives.

For the team’s sake, Sexton’s value this season will be derived from the former.

All stats courtesy of Cleaning the Glass unless otherwise stated. You can follow Alex on Bluesky at @alexregla.bsky.social