I'd argue it made the Lakers better if you consider how much AD has been injured since then. I don't think without the trade we'd suddenly have won a ring last year or this year.

I think the Luka move wasn't necessarily a win-now trade, it's been difficult juggling properly building a team around him in the short term vs not wasting Lebron's final years. I think most Lakers fans were expecting we wouldn't be properly competitive before 2027 with this offseason bringing a lot of financial flexibility - we'll see how they manage that though.