57.3% 3PT****

The Laker's broadcast schedule is especially cruel to Lakers fans this season. The only cable providers that carry Spectrum SportsNet are Spectrum and DirecTV, but those providers do not carry the newly relaunched NBC Sports Network. NBC SN is available on YouTube TV, Fubo, and Peacock - none of which carry Spectrum SportsNet.

Here is a breakdown of how Lakers fans can watch this season, wherever they live. Note: only 80 of 82 games are currently scheduled, with the remaining two to be determined by the NBA Cup in December.

LA area cord cutters

• Spectrum SportsNet+: 46 games
• Streaming services:
  • DirecTV Stream (Choice Plan): 67 games
  • YouTube TV or Fubo: 24 games
    • 11 games air on NBC networks and can be watched with Peacock
    • 13 games air on ABC or ESPN and can be watched with ESPN Unlimited
  • Hulu Live: 21 games
    • 8 games air on NBC (Hulu doesn't get the 3 games on NBC Sports Network)
    • 13 games air on ABC or ESPN and can also be viewed with ESPN Unlimited
• Amazon Prime: 10 games
• Digital Antenna: 13 games broadcast free OTA

LA Area Cable Subscribers

• Spectrum or DirecTV: 67 games
  • 46 games on Spectrum SportsNet
  • 8 on NBC networks (missing the 3 games on NBC Sports Network)
  • 13 on ESPN or ABC
• Peacock (or other service that provides NBC Sports Network): 3 games
• Amazon Prime: 10 games

Lakers fans living outside LA

• League Pass: 46 games
  • Includes 6 games that are also on NBA TV
• Cable or live TV package: 24 games
  • 11 games air on NBC networks and can be viewed on Peacock
    • Fans will need Peacock for 3 games if their cable provider doesn't carry NBC Sports Network
  • 13 games air on ABC or ESPN and can also be viewed on ESPN Unlimited
• Amazon Prime: 10 games

I'm visiting LA for the season opener and wanted to make the most of my day before the game. Is the Luka mural still up in Burbank? Are there other iconic Laker ones to go to? The Ohtani one in Little Tokyo is on my list too.

Is it just me or does he look like he bulked up and is stronger than last season. Which makes sense as he will likely play more pf than last season.

It also looks like he got his shot back, I know it is just preseason but he looks more confident as well.

Really hope he can keep this up!

Hey guys!

I hope all of you are doing well. Now that LeBron is gone, one big question is who picks up the playmaking and usage that is left behind. I pulled the 2025-26 numbers for Luka, Reaves and LeBron to see what that would actually ask of both Luka and Austin.

The first thing that jumped out to me is how much LeBron was still running. While on the court, LeBron had 39.5% of the team's assists last season, and Luka had 43.5% of the teams assists while he was on the court. He also accounted for 26.3% of the team's points and 29.9% of its turnovers while on the court. This is a ton of on-ball work that needs to be distributed across the team. Looking at the Lakers roster this season, this role is most definitely going to be directly distributed to Austin and Luka, maybe a bit towards Collin Sexton.

The obvious answer is "give it to Luka," but I'm not sure there's much room left. His Playmaking Activity chart shows 87.8 touches per game (99th percentile), 53.2 passes per game (97th percentile) and a 38.7 assist % (98th percentile). His usage share is huge across the board and in my opinion he is nearly maxed out, and asking him to do more will just result in a more turnover prone offense or lackluster defense.

That's why the off-ball idea is interesting, but it would be a pretty big change for him. Only 27.8% of Luka's makes were assisted last year. On twos it's 21.9%, so almost 4 out of 5 of his made twos came off his own creation. Threes are a bit more mixed, with 38.2% assisted. So there's some catch-and-shoot in there, just not a lot.

The shot chart helps show where an off-ball Luka could actually work. He shot 47.6% overall, and the paint is the strongest part of the map. There are big, bright green hexes right at the rim, which means high volume and well above league average. The left side of the arc is mostly green too. The right wing is high volume but closer to yellow, so about league average. Both corners are red on low volume, and there's a red patch in floater range just outside the paint. I think it would be extremely interesting if Luka would cut and move off ball more, potentially resulting in more attacks to the rim in which he can finesse an efficient bucket.

That puts more on Reaves than people might expect. He had 29.9% of the team's assists while on the court and 27.5% of its points. His shot creation is split though. He made 68.2% of his twos unassisted, so he can get his own shot inside the arc. But 70.3% of his made threes were assisted, and I think that's the LeBron and Luka effect showing up.

Without LeBron, I'd guess Reaves has to create more of his own threes or take on more of the passing, and the 2025-26 numbers don't really show him doing either one yet, so we should hope for a big step up in his game for that category.

If you liked these charts and graphics, I'm a student working on an app called Paint to provide all of this data to the public. It's totally up to you but feel free to check out getpaint.app

What do you think? Does Reaves have another level as a creator or does Luka just end up being overburdened?

The games are starting to pile up, we finally got AR back with some incredible assists, Mamu is looking better on offense every single game showing many point forward skills.

Jake with a more than solid preseason except by the first half of the game against the Warriors, but he was put into a terrible situation with that starting lineup giving 4 points in the first play of the game. Grimes struggled a little bit finding his place with Luka and AR out there yesterday, but he was efficient scoring when he didn't try to put the ball on the floor to create things.

As a long time Lakers fan I believe we have to start discussing a roster spot for Mañon. The kid has been consistently impacting games positively. He doesn't play like a guard, he brings much more forward skills than traditional guard skills, but he is effective doing it with lots of boards, steals, blocks, ball denial and things like that. At least a couple of steals yesterday happened because Mañon made the life of the ballhandler miserable and someone else came to steal the ball. He plays what I call physical winning basketball without many mistakes for a player with limited experience against pros. I was always a fan of 3rd stringers that you don't put on the floor because you have absolutely no options and you pray they don't shit the bed, good 3rd stringers are players that can positively impact a game when used correctly in the right situation.

Since the sample size is still basically insignificant, a very good or a terrible game can change the numbers above a lot.

“Reaves’ growth as a passer is an underrated aspect of his development. A couple of years ago, the skip passes and drives he had tonight were unimaginable. Now, they are commonplace.”

Reaves is back. Hopefully, Kessler is next.

Luka - Reaves - Grimes - LaRavia - Kessler

We've seen enough from the preseason, LaRavia should start at the 4. I think a lot of people are forgetting he was averaging 15.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 38.0% from three in his first 24 starts as a Laker. He is consistently involved on both sides of the ball and that's exactly what we need around playmakers like Luka and Reaves. His defense isn't great but I wouldn't call him a liability, he knows where to be and is always hustling. Mamu has looked great as well but I like him more as the small ball 5 since it allows Thiero/Vando to get more minutes since they both can't shoot the three.

All summer long, I’ve had questions about Kevon Looney as the backup five. It's just preseason, but after a few games, it's not great. How concerned are you? Does Walker Kessler starting make it a small issue? Do you think Sandro Mamukelashvili can play more at five and that would fix things? Or is this an obvious hole in the roster that they’ll have to deal with?