Playoff Prospects: Are The Lakers Heading Towards Another First-Round Exit?

In this series, we’ll take a look at each NBA team that’s gunning for a deep playoff run. We’ll try to predict the players that will have the biggest impact, as well as the ceiling for each squad in the 2026 postseason.

When Luka Dončić arrived in Los Angeles last year, the long-term future of the Lakers looked exceptionally bright.

The purple and gold squad finished with 50 regular-season wins in 2025, apparently a taste of what’s to come in the foreseeable future. Though LeBron James missed the first few weeks of the 2025-26 campaign, Dončić and Austin Reaves thrived as a dynamic backcourt duo, shooting the lights out and facilitating scoring opportunities for the rest of their teammates.

Just weeks before the 2026 playoffs, however, the Lakers were thrown more than one curveball that dampened their postseason hopes. Within a nightmarish 24-hour span, both members of the Lakers’ starting backcourt were ruled out for the rest of the regular season: Dončić with a hamstring strain, Reaves with an oblique injury.

This injury report begs the question: Are the Lakers heading towards another first-round exit?

With Dončić and Reaves potentially missing the first round of the playoffs, all eyes will now be on the all-time great who has been somehow overshadowed by his younger running mates.

On paper, it sounds ludicrous to turn to a 41-year-old as an emergency measure in the postseason. But LeBron James is no ordinary 41-year-old. Anyone who has watched the NBA over the past two decades knows that James is all too familiar with the task of carrying a team in the playoffs.

James is still an adept scorer and an extraordinary playmaker at this point in his career. He’ll be the center of attention, but even the King will need help under the bright lights of the playoffs.

Another Laker who has undergone heavy scrutiny is Deandre Ayton. Pundits, however, have not always been kind to the 7-foot Bahamian center.

Ayton’s self-appointed nickname of “DominAyton” has backfired on multiple occasions, as he has looked lost on both ends of the floor during certain stretches. Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal have had a field day ridiculing Ayton for not living up to his personal hype.

However, there’s no denying that Ayton is the big body that the Lakers were sorely missing in last year’s playoff run. With a court general like James, Ayton should get plenty of opportunities to feast in the shaded lane. What’s even more crucial, though, is his impact on the defensive end. When it comes to deterring shots at the rim and collecting rebounds, Ayton needs to be truly dominant.

The outlook for the Lakers is a grim one at this point. It’s possible that their first-round opponent will be the Minnesota Timberwolves, the same squad that punished them with size and athleticism last year.

With James, Dončić, and Reaves in the 2025 playoff lineup, the Lakers could only muster one victory over the Wolves before getting eliminated. It’s possible, then, that the Lakers will fare even worse if only LBJ suits up in the first round this year.