LeBron James is gone from Los Angeles, but Derek Fisher does not expect the Lakers to fall off nearly as much as some might fear. After finishing 53-29 last season, Los Angeles enters 2026-27 without James after he joined the Philadelphia 76ers. The Lakers’ next chapter, however, already has a clear centerpiece in Luka Doncic.
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That is why Fisher believes the Lakers can remain competitive despite losing an all-time great. Speaking on 97.1 The Fan, he pointed to what happened to some of James’ previous teams after his departures and argued that Los Angeles has something those teams did not: another superstar ready to take over.
“You think about the few organizations where LeBron has been, you tell me where their record has gotten dramatically better after he left. So it’s not going to fall off that much because Luka is there,” Fisher said.
Fisher’s optimism is understandable when looking at what Doncic produced last season. The 27-year-old averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.6 steals in 64 games while earning All-NBA First Team honors. He also led the NBA in scoring at 33.5 points per game.
Luka Doncic Gives Lakers Reason for Optimism
Doncic is not the only piece Fisher believes can help the Lakers absorb James’ departure. Austin Reaves is coming off a career-best season in which he averaged 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 51 games. Los Angeles also re-signed him this offseason on a four-year deal, keeping another important part of its new core in place.
Fisher sees the combination of Doncic and Reaves as one of the reasons the Lakers can remain in the playoff picture, while Walker Kessler gives them a defensive presence in the frontcourt.
“I think Luka and Austin Reaves are basically an all-star backcourt that you can roll out every night, and then Walker Kessler is a young developing almost all-starish type of big in terms of his elite defense and rebounding. So I think you have a chance. 45 to 50 wins, a lot of things are going to have to go right, but it feels fair to me,” Fisher said.
The projection would put the Lakers somewhere between 45 and 50 victories, compared with the 53 wins they recorded last season. Their preseason over-under is also listed at 46.5 wins, making Fisher’s range fairly close to the market’s expectations rather than a prediction of a dramatic collapse.
There is still a major adjustment ahead. James averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds in 60 games last season, so Los Angeles will have to replace a significant amount of production.
But Fisher’s argument is that the Lakers are not starting from scratch. They already have Doncic, who just delivered one of the strongest offensive seasons of his career, Reaves coming off his best year and Kessler adding the interior defense and rebounding Fisher believes the roster needs.
For the Lakers, the challenge is no longer about replacing LeBron James with another LeBron James. It is about finding out whether Doncic can lead the team into its next era.
If Fisher’s 45-to-50-win projection proves accurate, Los Angeles may lose its longtime superstar without losing its place among the Western Conference’s competitive teams.