Two years ago, an anonymous Eastern Conference executive had a pitch for the Lakers front office: if you want to get better, go get Michael Porter Jr. “They need a gunner who is not afraid to shoot,” the executive told Heavy Sports, floating a Nuggets-Lakers trade that never happened. Now, LeBron James is gone from L.A., and Porter did end up on a different roster than the one that executive imagined, in Brooklyn. And this week, MPJ didn’t hold back on what he thinks of the team the Lakers built without either of them.

Porter appeared on Kick streamer N3on’s livestream on September 16. When N3on read him the Lakers’ new depth chart, Porter made a claim that didn’t sit right with many.

“Yeah, I don’t like that roster,” he said. “To be a championship roster? I mean, they might be solid, but I don’t see that from them winning no chip.”

N3on then asked Porter to pick a champion. Porter paused before asking, ‘Besides us? — another audacious remark, per fans.

For context, LeBron dragged an injury-thinned Lakers roster to one playoff series win before Oklahoma City swept them in the second round. Weeks later, he told the team he wouldn’t be back for a ninth season. By July 24, he’d announced his decision to sign a two-year, $8 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, ending the longest run of his career with one franchise.

The Lakers moved fast, as Rob Pelinka sent two unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps to Utah for center Walker Kessler, then signed him to a four-year, $130 million deal. Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Kevon Looney, Matisse Thybulle and Cameron Carr followed, while Deandre Ayton went to Washington for Jaden Hardy and two second-round picks. Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes were let go.

And what’s left is built around Luka Doncic, who signed a three-year, $165 million extension last year, and Austin Reaves, who just got four years and $185 million of his own.

Hence, one fan responded directly, summing up the entire pushback in a sentence: “Lakers roster are not created for you MPJ. It was build around luka.”

One could say that Porter’s opinion isn’t nothing. He spent years in Denver, won a title there in 2023, and was part of the Nuggets team that swept LeBron’s Lakers that postseason on the way to the championship. In that title-winning regular season, he averaged 17.4 points on 48.7% shooting. So, he’s been part of Denver teams that have beaten the Lakers badly more than once.

The Nets he landed on were in the middle of a rebuild and finished near the bottom of the East last season. At one point in late March, they were 17-56. Porter had a career year regardless; his first season as a team’s primary scoring option after years alongside Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray in Denver. He averaged 24.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.0 assists a night, and hence, in the same stream, predicted his Nets would clear 50 wins this season, up from a total nowhere near that a year before.

“He can draw a double-team and swing it to me, and I can shoot that three. If we get that chemistry right, all our young guys from last year are better, bro. I don’t know what the expectations are for our team, but we’re definitely surprising them,” Porter said.

But while the Nets have improved quite a lot and could throw a surprise our way, Porter’s claim was still rather bold considering that the franchise won just twenty games in the last season. With the Eastern Conference becoming stronger in the 2026 offseason, the Nets will actually face a tougher and more crowded playoff race.

“Bro said ‘besides us’ mind you he is on the Brooklyn Nets,” one fan wrote. Another added: “Can’t wait to blitz that bitch when it’s lakers vs nets we’ll see what roster he likes.” The two teams are guaranteed to meet at least twice this season, like every pair of NBA teams, so that particular score will get settled on a court eventually.

Fans further went after the specifics of what was named and who wasn’t. “Didn’t name mamu, Matisse or Zaire…instead named Dalton and Vando…..and bronny ….n* are a joke,” one wrote.

To be fair to Porter, not everyone thinks he’s wrong. In a separate livestream with N3on, Chicago Bulls guard Norman Powell called the Lakers the most overrated team in the league. Former NBA player Iman Shumpert, too, believes the Lakers could struggle next season. After all, the Lakers are thinner defensively than their record suggests, and will also have to deal with the size, athleticism, and depth of teams such as Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Denver, and Minnesota.

To add to that, losing LeBron James hasn’t ever been an easy adjustment for his former teams. The Heat needed some time before getting back to the Finals, while the Cavaliers didn’t even make the playoffs without James until 2023. Their run to the conference finals last season was their biggest achievement of the post-LeBron era, though the New York Knicks swept them there.

But the Lakers aren’t rushing to win a championship; that is simply not their mindset right now. In July, Lakers insider Jovan Buha reported that the Lakers’ internal timeline appeared to be aimed at true contention by 2028. For now, the front office is more focused on putting together a competitive roster around its Slovenian star.

That said, Doncic does believe the team can win a title. And who are we to doubt that, since he has already shown he can drag imperfect rosters into the playoff picture. On top of that, the league feels more wide open than it has in a while. The Knicks weren’t exactly a sure bet to win it all last season, and the Pacers making the Finals the year before wasn’t something many people saw coming either. So while the Lakers aren’t guaranteed anything, they have a much clearer path to staying in contention than Porter might have you believe.

So while the Lakers’ depth might be a real question, one fan shared what the Lakers’ mention might be more about: “they talk about the lakers for clicks. it what it is lol.”