Luka Dončić Is Now the Lakers' Savior — And Their Problem
Here are three very different ways for the Lakers to approach their future, including the unthinkable — another Luka Dončić trade
This Lakers’ season looked better than it was, and that’s a problem going forward.
After a mediocre start, they were essentially gifted Dorian Finney-Smith in December by a Brooklyn team looking to get worse, not better.
Speaking of gifts, Dallas GM Nico Harrison then sent Luka Dončić to L.A. in the infamous deal considered maybe the worst trade in NBA history.
At the time, the Lakers were fifth in the West but still had a slightly negative scoring margin. So they were lucky both on the trade market and on the court.
Pairing Dončić with LeBron James sent expectations through the roof, naturally. In the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, the No. 3 Lakers were betting favorites over No. 6 Minnesota — in fact, the Lakers trailed only the Thunder in betting odds to win the West and make the NBA Finals.
But I had reason for skepticism, especially as a longtime Luka critic. The Mavs had built the optimal team around him to reach the 2024 Finals — a roster full of long, athletic defenders to cover his weaknesses.
The Lakers had no such players. Their thin roster was exposed and the Timberwolves prevailed rather easily in five games.
As strange as it sounds, getting a young superstar turned out to be the easy part of returning to NBA title contention.
Now comes the hard part — building a championship roster around him.
But first, let’s address the elephant in the room:
Was Nico partially right?
Everyone agrees that Harrison and the Mavs should've gotten more in return for Dončić.
But was pursuing the original idea of trading Luka the mistake, or was it just poor execution?
 | A guest post by
|