The Los Angeles Lakers are firmly Luka Doncic’s team now, and the young core built around him is looking to play a complementary role.
Last season, the Los Angeles Lakers went from an aging win-now star in LeBron James to a young win-now star in Luka Doncic as the centerpiece of the franchise.
Doncic is only 26 years old, and the Lakers don’t need to build with any degree of urgency. Still, Los Angeles has failed to build a solid young core around Doncic.
The only players on the roster younger than Doncic are the often-injured Jarred Vanderbilt, role-players Jake LaRavia and Jaxson Hayes, two-way player Christian Koloko, rookie Adou Thiero, and second-year players Dalton Knecht and Bronny James.
With no star power in that group, the Lakers’ youngsters are leaning into a different identity.
Bronny James, despite his flaws and shortcomings, is a very solid perimeter defender. Vanderbilt and Thiero are both sturdy defenders, and Koloko is a high-level rim protector who has emerged as a leader of the young group.
“Just getting more comfortable with the guys defensively,” said Koloko to NBA reporter Mike Trudell.
“The last couple of (Summer League) games, we did a really good job defensively as a team, just with deflections, getting steals, and blocking shots. We want to be a scrappy team, causing turnovers, and I was trying to be the anchor of it.”
In the Summer League, Koloko averaged 3.8 stocks per game, and with Bronny, Knecht, and Vanderbilt all expected to settle into their roles early this season, Koloko could be the second-string rim-runner and shot-blocker behind Deandre Ayton.
“Koloko mentioned that he, Knecht, Bronny and others have been in the gym consistently this summer with the coaching staff, just trying to get better,” Trudell reported.
Between the trades that landed them Doncic, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, the Lakers don’t have the draft picks needed to build an elite young core.
Rather, they are hoping that their overlooked and less-known additions can rise to the occasion.
In his first five NBA seasons, the Dallas Mavericks added quality defenders around Doncic, culminating in their run to the Finals in 2024. PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II, and Derrick Jones Jr. all played key defensive roles, allowing Doncic to thrive.
While Bronny, Koloko, Vanderbilt, and Thiero are admittedly less talented than the Mavericks’ group, the Lakers are working on building a core not of stars, but of players who don’t mind doing the dirty work.
After chasing superstars to pair with James for the last several seasons, they might have finally found a way to build a reliable, consistent winner.
