Lakers’ Dodgers-Inspired Overhaul May Not Be Finished Yet

After 14 months under team owner Mark Walter, which resulted in an overhaul of the front office and the roster, the Los Angeles Lakers face a lot of uncertainty heading toward the start of the 2026-27 NBA season.

Walter has agreed to sell the 17-time NBA champions to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, sparking many questions about where the storied franchise goes from here after several changes to how the team is run to begin the Luka Doncic era in Los Angeles.

NBA Insider Claims ‘Doderizing’ the Lakers Will Continue

According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, it was an extensive process to go through the ‘Dodgerizing’ of the Lakers.

The Lakers are Building an EMPIRE! pic.twitter.com/gmeUQIHwXD
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) August 13, 2026

“They were in the process of Dodgerizing the Lakers,” Shelburne said. “All of the brains and all of the apparatus that had been installed with the Dodgers to make them the most successful franchise in baseball the last few years was being implemented with the Lakers.”

The question now is whether the team continues with that plan to copy the Dodgers’ blueprint under the new ownership.

When Walter took over, he wasted no time implementing his plan to follow the same script he’s had as the Dodgers majority owner since 2012. He helped build a perennial World Series title contender down the street, resulting in three titles over the span, and potentially one more on the horizon, which would complete the three-peat.

Obviously, that blueprint works, at least in baseball, but it remains to be seen if Iger and Kushner are comfortable with maintaining that direction for the Lakers.

“Until this goes through, that's still going on, right? Like everyone who's been hired, everyone who's been put in place here, they're still going to keep doing what they're doing,“ Shelburne said. “So it doesn't mean anything in the beginning here, but I think your question about Iger and Kushner about now running a team like the Lakers, I think it catapults it into the next stratosphere."

For the time being, the new-look Lakers will continue with the “Dodgerizing” of this franchise, which seems like the smart way to go.

Lakers Need to Stay the Course for at Least One Season

Mar 27, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts after scoring during the second half against the Brooklyn Nets at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Whenever an ownership group invests a considerable amount of money, as in this $12.5 billion deal, they’ll want to run things with their vision being the driving force and not the prior ownership.

However, with so many drastic changes moves being made over the past year, it would be unwise to undo all of that immediately, as that could lead to a lot of chaos in Los Angeles, with no one truly knowing what’s going on or feeling secure in their role.

That could prove costly for a team building around Luka Doncic, who is only under contract for two more seasons and then can control his own fate with a $57.7 million player option for the 2028-29 campaign.

If Doncic doesn’t like the new direction after being sold on Walter’s vision before signing a contract extension, the Lakers could risk him walking in NBA free agency down the road.

Every move for the rest of the summer and throughout the upcoming season will be crucial to the direction of the franchise and securing Doncic as the team’s franchise player for the foreseeable future.

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