The Lakers roster has been strengthened in the most recent offseason, but two of the newer faces have already found themselves under scrutiny. FanSided.com’s list of the 10 worst contracts in free agency to this point includes Walker Kessler at No. 1 overall and Quentin Grimes at No. 6, turning what looked like reinforcement for the Los Angeles Lakers into an early debate about value.
That is the tension around this Lakers roster. The Los Angeles Lakers kept Austin Reaves and added Walker Kessler, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes, Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle, giving Rob Pelinka a group with more depth and more flexibility. But when a contender has as much money to spend as any contender, those moves are always going to be judged not just on fit, but on price and risk.
Why Kessler and Grimes are drawing criticism
Kessler’s position on the list is striking because the criticism is not just about the contract itself, but about availability. He is fresh off only playing five games last season, which naturally makes any major commitment harder to defend. A player who has barely featured recently will always face questions about whether the contract reflects present value or future hope.
Grimes, meanwhile, is being judged on a different set of concerns. He took a step back as a shooter and was a non-factor in the playoffs, which is not the profile teams want from a player being asked to provide reliable production. In a market where teams pay for certainty, that combination can quickly push a deal into the wrong side of the ledger.
Pelinka’s margin moves still matter
It would be wrong to frame the Lakers roster as purely a problem story. Pelinka also added wing defenders like Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle on cheap one-year deals, and those are the sort of moves that can quietly improve a team’s structure. They may not carry the same headline value as the bigger names, but around the margins they can matter just as much over an 82-game season.
That is why this Lakers roster remains so interesting. The team has clearly tried to address depth and defensive options, while still keeping Austin Reaves in place as part of the core. The upside is obvious, but so is the scrutiny. When two different players from the same offseason addition group are already appearing on a worst-contracts list, the pressure shifts from simply building the roster to proving the spending was worthwhile.
For the Los Angeles Lakers, the next stage is not about headlines from free agency. It is about whether the new pieces can justify the investment once the season starts, and whether the roster balance Rob Pelinka has assembled can hold up when the real tests arrive.
