After The Timeout · NBA 2026-27 guide

Western Conference · tip-off October 20

Los Angeles Lakers

Our win estimate next to the market's, the last three seasons, who came and went, and the rotation we expect.

Our estimate

38 wins

Median of 20,000 simulated seasons. Middle 80%: 32 to 43 wins.

The market

47.5 wins

Where the Kalshi yes price for "wins or more" crosses 50%.

Last season

53-29

2025-26 · net rating +1.8 (14th in the NBA)

Our estimate is 9.3 wins below the market.

Treat the gap as a flag, not a verdict. In backtests on 2024-25 and 2025-26 (60 team-seasons) this kind of estimate missed a team's win total by 8.3 wins on average. Last season's wins pulled toward 41 missed by 9.0. Ratings built from games alone said 44 wins for this team.

Two ways to count wins

Our range against the market

The blue bar is the middle 80% of our simulated seasons. The orange line is the market's win total.

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 47.5 market wins in an 82-game season
Our median 38, middle 80%: 32 to 43 Market 47.5

Where we think they finish in the West

Top 6: 10% Play-in, 7th to 10th: 53% Outside the top 10: 37%
Market prices by strikeKalshi, captured Oct 19, 4:38 pm UTC
Wins or moreBidAskMidOur odds
203¢ 100¢ 52¢ 100%
2595¢ 100¢ 98¢ 100%
3070¢ 100¢ 85¢ 97%
3591¢ 94¢ 93¢ 77%
4077¢ 82¢ 80¢ 34%
4560¢ 63¢ 62¢ 6%
5037¢ 39¢ 38¢ 0%
5519¢ 27¢ 23¢ 0%
602¢ 23¢ 13¢ 0%
650¢ 10¢ n/a 0%

A strike with no bid is treated as unpriced. The market win total is a straight line between the two strikes that straddle 50%.

What the scoreboard said

The last three regular seasons

Ratings are points per 100 possessions. Possessions are estimated from box scores, so treat them as close, not exact. Ranks are out of 30.

2025-26 · 53-29 (6th in wins)

Points per game
116.311th
Allowed per game
114.611th
Offensive rating
116.28th
Defensive rating
114.419th
Net rating
+1.814th

2024-25 · 50-32 (6th in wins)

Points per game
113.419th
Allowed per game
112.210th
Offensive rating
113.912th
Defensive rating
112.717th
Net rating
+1.214th

2023-24 · 47-35 (12th in wins)

Points per game
118.06th
Allowed per game
117.423rd
Offensive rating
114.215th
Defensive rating
113.618th
Net rating
+0.619th

Our preseason ratings

Offense
+0.2612th
Defense
-0.9911th
Net, games only
+1.2512th
Roster value
-0.70

Offense, defense and net are points per game against an average team, fitted on every completed game before tip-off (defense: lower is better). Roster value is the on-court net per 48 minutes of the players on the roster list, weighted by minutes.

Who came and who left

Offseason moves

Built from the DraftKings roster list and 2025-26 box scores. Players who left had at least 500 regular-season minutes here last season.

In (10)

  • Quentin Grimesfrom PHI
    29.5 min, 13.4 pts a game
  • Sandro Mamukelashvilifrom TOR
    21.9 min, 11.2 pts a game
  • Collin Sextonfrom CHI
    23.7 min, 15.4 pts a game
  • Ziaire Williamsfrom BKN
    22.9 min, 10.2 pts a game
  • Jaden Hardyfrom WSH
    15.8 min, 9.2 pts a game
5 moredepth and rookies
  • Matisse Thybullefrom POR
    16.0 min, 5.8 pts a game
  • Kevon Looneyfrom NO
    14.6 min, 2.8 pts a game
  • Walker Kesslerfrom UTAH
    31.0 min, 14.4 pts a game
  • AK OkerekeRookie / newNo NBA box score on file
  • Cameron CarrRookie / newNo NBA box score on file

Out (7)

  • LeBron Jamesnow with PHI
    33.1 min, 20.9 pts a game
  • Deandre Aytonnow with WSH
    27.3 min, 12.5 pts a game
  • Rui Hachimuranow with LAC
    28.3 min, 11.5 pts a game
  • Marcus Smartnow with HOU
    28.5 min, 9.3 pts a game
  • Jaxson Hayesnow with UTAH
    18.3 min, 7.5 pts a game
2 more
  • Luke Kennardnow with PHX
    23.0 min, 9.0 pts a game
  • Gabe Vincentnot on a 2026-27 roster we can see
    19.2 min, 4.8 pts a game

The rotation we expect

Top eight by projected minutes

Minutes come from our DFS minutes projection and are not scaled to a 240-minute game. Open a player for three seasons of per-game lines and shooting.

Luka Doncic G · age 27 · 35.5 projected min 2025-26: 64 g, 33.5 pts, 7.7 reb, 8.3 ast

2025-26 · LAL

64games
35.8min
33.5pts
7.7reb
FG47.6%693/1457
3P36.6%254/694
FT78.0%503/645

8.3 assists a game

2024-25 · DAL/LAL

50games
35.3min
28.2pts
8.2reb
FG45.0%461/1025
3P36.8%177/481
FT78.2%309/395

7.7 assists a game

2023-24 · DAL

70games
37.5min
33.9pts
9.2reb
FG48.7%804/1652
3P38.2%284/744
FT78.6%478/608

9.8 assists a game

Austin Reaves G · age 28 · 35.2 projected min 2025-26: 51 g, 23.3 pts, 4.7 reb, 5.5 ast

2025-26 · LAL

51games
34.6min
23.3pts
4.7reb
FG49.0%373/762
3P36.0%118/328
FT87.1%323/371

5.5 assists a game

2024-25 · LAL

73games
34.9min
20.2pts
4.5reb
FG46.0%477/1037
3P37.7%200/531
FT87.7%321/366

5.8 assists a game

2023-24 · LAL

82games
32.0min
15.9pts
4.3reb
FG48.6%457/940
3P36.7%154/420
FT85.3%232/272

5.5 assists a game

Walker Kessler New here C · age 25 · 29.9 projected min 2025-26: 5 g, 14.4 pts, 10.8 reb, 3.0 ast

2025-26 · UTAH

5games
31.0min
14.4pts
10.8reb
FG70.3%26/37
3P75.0%6/8
FT70.0%14/20

3.0 assists a game

2024-25 · UTAH

58games
30.1min
11.1pts
12.2reb
FG66.3%278/419
3P17.6%6/34
FT52.0%79/152

1.7 assists a game

2023-24 · UTAH

64games
23.2min
8.1pts
7.5reb
FG65.4%229/350
3P21.1%4/19
FT60.2%56/93

0.9 assists a game

Collin Sexton New here G · age 27 · 28.1 projected min 2025-26: 68 g, 15.4 pts, 2.3 reb, 3.3 ast

2025-26 · CHA/CHI

68games
23.7min
15.4pts
2.3reb
FG48.5%360/742
3P40.1%112/279
FT85.5%218/255

3.3 assists a game

2024-25 · UTAH

63games
28.0min
18.4pts
2.7reb
FG48.0%416/867
3P40.6%110/271
FT86.5%217/251

4.2 assists a game

2023-24 · UTAH

78games
26.6min
18.7pts
2.6reb
FG48.7%506/1038
3P39.4%128/325
FT85.9%318/370

4.9 assists a game

Jake LaRavia F · age 24 · 26.9 projected min 2025-26: 82 g, 8.2 pts, 4.0 reb, 1.8 ast

2025-26 · LAL

82games
25.2min
8.2pts
4.0reb
FG45.9%240/523
3P32.1%78/243
FT76.3%116/152

1.8 assists a game

2024-25 · MEM/SAC

66games
20.5min
6.9pts
3.9reb
FG47.5%160/337
3P42.3%60/142
FT67.8%78/115

2.4 assists a game

2023-24 · MEM

35games
23.1min
10.8pts
3.7reb
FG38.9%118/303
3P34.0%53/156
FT82.6%90/109

1.7 assists a game

Quentin Grimes New here G · age 26 · 25.4 projected min 2025-26: 75 g, 13.4 pts, 3.6 reb, 3.3 ast

2025-26 · PHI

75games
29.5min
13.4pts
3.6reb
FG45.0%340/755
3P33.4%127/380
FT84.0%199/237

3.3 assists a game

2024-25 · DAL/PHI

75games
26.9min
14.6pts
4.3reb
FG46.7%384/823
3P38.5%162/421
FT75.7%162/214

3.0 assists a game

2023-24 · DET/NY

51games
20.1min
7.0pts
2.0reb
FG37.2%122/328
3P33.8%81/240
FT75.6%34/45

1.3 assists a game

Ziaire Williams New here F · age 25 · 23.1 projected min 2025-26: 56 g, 10.2 pts, 2.4 reb, 1.1 ast

2025-26 · BKN

56games
22.9min
10.2pts
2.4reb
FG42.5%184/433
3P34.3%86/251
FT85.0%119/140

1.1 assists a game

2024-25 · BKN

63games
24.5min
10.0pts
4.6reb
FG41.2%214/520
3P34.1%103/302
FT82.1%101/123

1.3 assists a game

2023-24 · MEM

49games
21.2min
8.6pts
3.7reb
FG39.7%150/378
3P30.7%58/189
FT82.7%62/75

1.5 assists a game

Sandro Mamukelashvili New here C · age 27 · 21.6 projected min 2025-26: 80 g, 11.2 pts, 4.9 reb, 1.9 ast

2025-26 · TOR

80games
21.9min
11.2pts
4.9reb
FG52.3%330/631
3P38.9%115/296
FT74.7%118/158

1.9 assists a game

2024-25 · SA

60games
11.3min
6.4pts
3.1reb
FG50.2%141/281
3P37.3%60/161
FT74.1%43/58

0.8 assists a game

2023-24 · SA

45games
10.0min
4.2pts
3.3reb
FG47.1%73/155
3P29.7%19/64
FT73.5%25/34

1.1 assists a game

How to read this

Method and limits

How our estimate is built
  • Our estimate starts from the roster. Each player's on-court net points per 48 minutes (from his most recent full season, pulled toward zero when the sample is small) is averaged by minutes across the roster list, then turned into wins at about 2.9 wins per point of net.
  • That win total is then pushed through the real 2026-27 schedule 20,000 times, using a home win probability for every game, to get the range and the playoff and play-in odds.
  • Ratings built from games alone (6,153 games before October 20) are kept as a comparison. They fade old games over the offseason, which pulls every team toward average.
  • The market number is the wins where Kalshi's "wins or more" price crosses 50%, read off a straight line between strikes five wins apart.
What the estimate does not know
  • Possessions are an estimate from box totals, not tracked possessions.
  • The season simulation uses each game's win probability from the ratings and nothing else: no rating uncertainty, injuries, trades after the cutoff or in-season rating updates, so the 10th-90th percentile band is narrower than a real season's spread.
  • The 2026-27 schedule file lists 1200 games (80 per team on average) rather than 1230. Each team's missing games ([2] per team) are played against an average opponent at a neutral site with no rest terms.
  • Projection method: (d) roster values. In the walk-forward study its hold-out MAE was 8.3 wins (n = 60 team-seasons) against 9.0 for last season's wins regressed toward 41. Typical error is still about 8 wins per team, so treat every number as a wide estimate.
  • Roster values use each player's box-score plus-minus, which is not adjusted for teammates. Players with no box-score history count as average at 10 minutes a game.
  • Ties in the seeding are broken at random; head-to-head and division rules are not applied.
  • Every team has a usable market median.
  • Market median uses the midpoint of the yes bid and ask for each strike and a straight line between the two strikes (5 wins apart) that straddle 0.5; a strike with no bid is treated as unpriced.
  • Rosters are the DraftKings Best Ball player list for draft group 150564, kept only where the player is on his team's current ESPN roster (ESPN team rosters, 2026-10-19): released and departed players are out. Players DraftKings lists as Out are not in the engine's pool, so they have no projected minutes and are not in the top 8; each team's moves block names them.
  • Projected minutes are the engine's per-player estimates from box scores through 2026-04-12; they are not scaled to the team's 240 minutes and do not model new teammates.
  • Box scores start in 2021-22; a player with no box score on file is marked as a rookie or new, which can include veterans returning from abroad. Ages come from the ESPN player directory (2025-26 file) and are missing for players it does not list.
  • This team has 2 games the schedule file does not list yet; they are treated as games against an average opponent.

Data built Oct 19, 2026. Estimates are ours and can be wrong.