February 2, 2025, is a day that will go down in NBA history: Luka Doncic was sent to the Lakers in one of the most confusing trades of all time. Luka is a top 3 player in the league when healthy, so the 25-year-old’s departure from Dallas was shocking, to say the least. In return, the Mavericks got the aging and injury-prone superstar Anthony Davis, young talent Max Christie, and a first-round draft pick. The Mavericks are off to a less-than-ideal start in the new Kyrie and AD era, as Davis got injured in his debut and has yet to play in another game.
On the other hand, the Lakers have been soaring since the trade. Even though Luka has been slumping, it should not be too much of an issue as he is coming off of the most serious injury of his young career and he is still adjusting to a new system and learning how to play with another ball-dominant, high usage rate player like LeBron. Through 8 games so far with the Lakers, Luka is averaging 22 points, 8.3 rebounds, 6.8 assists, and 1.8 steals, which are good numbers, but not exactly the 30-point near triple-doubles he’s been averaging for the past few seasons. Even with Luka’s drop in production, the Lakers have risen from the 5th seed in the Western Conference before the trade to now being in 2nd place. Things started out pretty rough for the Slovenian superstar as his first 3 games with the Lakers were statistically the worst 3 game stretch of his career, but now, Lakers are now on a 6 game win streak and Luka’s numbers are returning to normal with standout performances against the Nuggets, his former team the Mavericks, and most recently the Clippers.
Luka and LeBron are very similar players despite the large gap in athleticism. They are both big, physically imposing, high-usage ball handlers who have elite pass accuracy and can score at will, although they go about scoring differently. LeBron is one of the most athletic if not the most athletic players in NBA history, and he still has it in year 22 of his career. He uses his size and athleticism to blow by defenders and finish at the hoop, typically having to battle through some sort of contact. Luka, on the other hand, is a heavy, slow, not very athletic player, but he uses his body to bully smaller defenders hoping to draw a double team for the easy assist or go to his effective midrange. He is most known for using his unassuming shifty-ness to hit his go-to stepback 3. I think for this Lakers team to play at its best someone has to take the role of a second option. This doesn’t have to be a permanent role as both of these players have the ability to completely take over a game, but it’s just not possible for them to both play their brands of basketball simultaneously at that high of a level.
The Lakers have definitive eras headlined by some of the best players in NBA history. Magic’s Showtime Lakers, the 2000s Lakers led by Shaq and Kobe, and the modern-day LeBron era certainly come to mind and Luka is certainly next in line to lead the next era if he decides to stay in LA. Overall I am excited to see what the Lakers can do this season as they have big championship aspirations. After one of the biggest trades in NBA history, many might see it as a disappointment if the duo of LeBron and Luka aren’t able to win a ring.
