Lakers Are Right to Prioritize the Future Following Luka Dončić Trade amid NBA Rumors | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
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When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Luka Dončić over the weekend, they gained more than a superstar talent and perennial NBA MVP candidate.
They bought themselves time, a commodity that had previously been unavailable to them throughout the LeBron James era.
No longer beholden to the extreme championship-or-bust expectations that stem from building the roster around a 40-year-old, the Lakers can suddenly breathe. They can be thorough and selective with their decision-making process, which perhaps could lead to a sleepy trade deadline.
While it’s hard not to notice the Anthony Davis-sized hole on their interior, they don’t have to rush out and find a fix by Thursday’s deadline. As Fred Katz, Joe Vardon and Sam Amick reported for The Athletic, “not many centers whose names are prevalent on the market appeal to them.”
The Lakers will undoubtedly still scour the market, and it feels like something will get done before Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET buzzer sounds. As far as dramatic upgrades, though, that almost certainly isn’t happening.
“Just as they wouldn’t part with the 2031 first-rounder for Dončić, they have no plans to give their best remaining draft asset away for a patch-up role player,” Katz, Vardon and Amick wrote.
This is how the Lakers have to play this.
Yes, they have a need at center, and it’s as glaring as ever. As fun as the Dončić-James duo should be offensively, there are just as many worries with the defensive deficiencies of a Dončić-Austin Reaves backcourt.
That’s a present concern, but this franchise’s future suddenly took precedent.
James remains a massive part of this organization, obviously, but this is all about Dončić now. The Lakers would surely love it if the pair could win together, but their biggest hope is that this relationship can bring the best out of Dončić.
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“The Lakers want LeBron James to be a mentor.”<a href=”https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@ShamsCharania</a> says that the Los Angeles Lakers do not plan on trading LeBron and want him to be a mentor to Luka Doncic. <a href=”https://t.co/LfZF9TQcVw”>pic.twitter.com/LfZF9TQcVw</a>
The Lakers have a long-term runway now. And they needed one because the present was looking pretty pedestrian.
Sacrificing assets to make a non-contending roster a better, but still non-contending roster never made much sense. There isn’t a move available right now that will put this team on a title track. The Lakers have a negative net efficiency rating (minus-0.2, 16th overall, per NBA.com). History holds that championship teams have top-10 rankings on both offense and defense, and L.A. falls below that threshold on both ends (12th on offense, 21st on defense).
Adding Dončić at the expense of Davis (and Max Christie) probably worsens the current group. There are more defensive holes to cover, and the on-court fit between Dončić and James could be awkward, at least initially.
Again, though, the Lakers are no longer forced to think only in immediate terms. They can start making long-term decisions now and perhaps positioning themselves to compete for titles year after year.
That option was never available as long as the Lakers were following the lead of the James-Davis duo. Bringing in Dončić changes everything, and L.A. is right to recognize as much.
