Because the mud settles on the Los Angeles Lakers’ season, many are speculating about the way forward for the franchise and searching again on the choice to commerce for Luka Doncic.
Regardless of the frustration of a five-game collection loss, it is essential to recollect that the Doncic trade wasn’t actually about this season; it was carried out for the Lakers’ future above all else.
The Lakers misplaced to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday in a recreation the place Doncic scored 28 factors in 40 minutes. Doncic was Los Angeles’s greatest participant all through your entire collection, no less than from an offensive perspective.
Doncic averaged 30.2 points, seven rebounds and 5.8 assists per recreation towards Minnesota within the collection.
And regardless that some will level to his struggles defensively and the truth that he appeared off form, the identical factor Dallas Mavericks common supervisor Nico Harrison referenced as their purpose for trading the five-time All-NBA superstar, nothing about Doncic’s play needs to be trigger for any revisionist commentary about bringing him to Los Angeles.
The thought {that a} staff cannot advance far within the postseason with Doncic because of his defensive deficiencies was debunked final yr when he led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals. It is potential that will not change at this level in Doncic’s profession.
Whereas it is potential he may very well be even higher if he had a stronger physique and targeted on each ends of the courtroom, it is simply unlikely to occur. However even when they do not, the Lakers can nonetheless win with Doncic.
Los Angeles must construct a staff correctly round Doncic, a lot the way in which Dallas did earlier than transport him out of city. The Lakers must discover a approach to discover extra bigs, ideally a pure middle and a capability to contend on the glass.
The Timberwolves gained the rebounding battle 54-37 in Recreation 5 and solely misplaced the rebounding battle as soon as all through the collection, satirically in the one recreation the Lakers gained.
Doncic can rebound, and naturally, so can LeBron James, who reached double digits in rebounds thrice within the collection. Nevertheless, your two greatest offensive threats mustn’t even be your high rebounders.
It is too taxing on the our bodies of a 40-year-old James and Doncic at his conditioning degree to be requested to compete for as many rebounds as they’re for the Lakers to compete in a Western Convention filled with measurement and athletic massive males.
This isn’t information to Lakers president of basketball operations and common supervisor Rob Pelinka. He is aware of the Lakers do not have massive males they will depend on like they did after they gained a championship in 2020 with Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee roaming underneath the basket.
Assuming James returns for his 23rd NBA season, Pelinka’s high precedence will likely be reshaping the roster to greatest match round an getting older legend and the star he’ll finally go the torch to.
However it doesn’t matter what the Lakers do within the offseason, Doncic continues to show he’ll produce whatever the circumstances round him. The stress is now on the Lakers to place the staff in the very best place to actually contend for one more championship, thus concurrently maximizing the top of James’ profession and the prime years of Doncic.
