Kessler is already one of the guys. The offense is another matter.

Walker Kessler arrived in Los Angeles having cost the Lakers two unprotected first-round picks and a pair of swap rights — real currency for a franchise now operating without a third star. By all accounts from camp, he has fit in quickly. That part is not the concern.

The concern is what surrounds him. Deandre Ayton, who shot 64.3% from the field last season, is in Washington now. LeBron James, who averaged 21.3 points and 7.2 assists, is in Philadelphia. The Lakers replaced a functional offensive center and an aging but still productive star with Kessler, Jaden Hardy, and a collection of wings. Kessler is a rim-runner and a shot-blocker — a legitimate defensive anchor — but he is not a source of offense, and the roster around him has very few of those left. Doncic and Reaves will carry the load; everything else is thin.

So the locker room chemistry is fine. That is worth something, especially on a young team finding its footing under a new ownership group and a front office still sorting itself out. But training camp goodwill does not generate half-court offense, and the picks Los Angeles sent to Utah are gone regardless of how this plays out. Kessler is a good piece. The question is whether there are enough pieces around him to make the cost feel reasonable by spring.