Kendrick Perkins calls out the Lakers for building around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves

Kendrick Perkins calls out the Lakers for building around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Los Angeles Lakers are headed into the 2026-27 season with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves as the team’s central players. They will be crucial for the team as the roster and system are built around them.

Unfortunately, a lot of people are not big fans of what they are building, especially with the two star players. One of the team’s critics is former NBA champion and current ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins, who has been quite vocal.

Kendrick Perkins is not a fan of the Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves duo 

After the 2025-26 season, the Lakers showed that there are some promising signs for this team. Under head coach JJ Redick, the Lakers have a system that will compete against the best teams in the league.

With Doncic headlining the roster, they have a superstar who can carry them to victory every night. However, the supporting cast leaves much to be desired, which is what the Lakers are trying to resolve.

MORE: The Lakers are looking to make a big trade to appease Luka Doncic

As Doncic’s co-star, Reaves has received a huge contract extension this offseason. That comes with a bigger role and heavier responsibilities. That has led to people disliking what they are building because this duo has a good chance of failing as well.

“Luka and Austin Reaves are your franchise players. We’re talking about an historic franchise where it’s no in between with their fan base. It’s either championships or bust,” Perkins said on Perk Unplugged about the Lakers’ duo.

“Two guys who are both defensive liabilities. It ain’t a team in the world, it ain’t a player in the world that’s afraid of Luka and Austin Reaves. Matter of fact, when the playoffs come around, they’re gonna be looking to get to the seeding where they can actually look at them.”

Moving forward, the Lakers will need to prove Perkins wrong. It will be challenging for the Lakers because they don’t have the roster to compete against the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs.

If they can retain LeBron James, the Lakers could pull off some surprises again. Unfortunately, that is looking unlikely based on the recent reports.

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