As Luka Doncic finds his footing with the Los Angeles Lakers, the franchise needs to let him be who they want him to be.
When the Los Angeles Lakers made the startling trade to land Luka Doncic in exchange for Anthony Davis, it was very clear that the Lakers had the future in mind. At some point, LeBron James will no longer be a high-level player or even in the league, but Doncic can cement himself as the face of the franchise for the post-James years.
In two games with the Lakers, Doncic is averaging just 15 points and four assists. Granted, he has been injured since Christmas and is on a minutes restriction, but the Lakers haven’t been treating him like the first option.
An offense with two oversized, do-all floor generals in James and Doncic sounds like a recipe for success, and it likely will be once the pair figures out how to work next to each other.
Naturally, there have been some growing pains, but with the All-Star Break underway, the All-NBA pair should be able to work out some kinks over the vacation. However, one expert doesn’t think the Lakers are using their newest star correctly.
“They have to let Luka go a little bit,” explained Brian Windhorst on ESPN. “The ball is not in his hands, he’s not holding the ball, he’s not directing the offense, he’s sort of just catching and passing, catching his passing. That’s not who he is. I know he wants to fit in with LeBron and with Austin Reaves, it’s important to have those guys with the ball too. That’s not who they traded for.”
At this point in their careers, Doncic is a better player than James, especially on offense, and he is certainly better than Austin Reaves.
However, in his first two games with the Lakers, he took the third and fourth most shots. Once he is back to playing 35 minutes a night, that should change, but the Lakers added him with the plan that the offense would run through him, and that hasn’t been the case so far.
Last year, Doncic proved that he could be the first option on a championship team after leading the Mavericks all the way to the Finals before falling to the Boston Celtics. He is clearly the Lakers’ centerpiece moving forward, and there have already been attempts to build around him.
At only 25 years old, he is an MVP candidate every year and one of the five best players in the world, so the LakeShow, like it has been in the past with Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron, will become the LukaShow. It’s only a matter of time.
“They traded for a guy who everybody moves around him,” Windhorst continued. “That’s how he became an MVP-level player in Dallas, and it’s going to be ripping the band-aid off, but I suspect when they come back from the break, you are going to hear a lot of talking about how Luka needs to be more like Luka, even if it’s not something he wants to do immediately.”
Conversely, to disagree with Windhorst, it’s very possible that by the time the Lakers return from the break, Doncic will be healthy and motivated to push his limits, and the Lakers won’t have to be pressured to invest time and responsibility in their new best player.
