Say it aloud when you read the following and convince yourself that it doesn’t feel strange: Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic. Get used to discomfort; It may take a while for the mating of the NBA’s most prominent franchise and the talented guard to mesh.
To begin with, no recent memory fans and media have shocked as deep as the Lakers who delivered the great man Anthony Davis to Dallas for the five times all-NBA Honoree Doncic. Murmurings of at least one page that wanted a new start preceded such monumental movements as Phoenix Suns acquired Kevin Durant from Brooklyn in 2023 or Mavericks Doncic with Kyrie Irving two years ago.
But Doncic? To the Lakers? It came as suddenly as one of Luke’s patented passport without appearance.
Doncic and Dallas looked on the outside, as one of the increasingly rare NBA marriage intended to go the distance. Almost immediately after winning this year’s beginner 2018-19, Doncic had brought himself to Mavericks faithful with his exciting brand of crime-a style that one could describe as melting elements of previous Dallas Struities Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki in a frame that coated as melting element the talent of the guard.
Wear Stetsons to play, show up rivals like Phoenix’s Devin Booker as he blinked a boyish smile and led Mavericks deep into the NBA playoffs: Dallas Metroplex had not seen a young sensation get such an immediate cult-like commitment since von Erichs sold out the sporting work every week .
In addition, Doncic did it with a presence that seemed comparable to the aforementioned beloved Maverick Nowitzki. While European influence on the NBA exploded before Nowitzki’s debut in 1998, no organization had ever built around a Euro import on the way to a championship before the German forward Willed Mavericks there in 2011.
In the meantime, Los Angeles is a city where star power is not only the norm but mandatory. In a star -driven league, no franchise has relied more on great personalities with big games. From Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul Jabs and Magic Johnson to Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, Lakers tops always coincided with real superstars leading the ship.
The tradition continues today with LeBron James. Just as the Lakers was Magic’s team in the 80s and Kobe’s team during most of the 21st century, the Lakers of 2020s is Lebron-Räven about James undoubtedly been Lakers’s best player 2024-25.
This difference belongs to Davis, which just made the trade so much more amazing. At 25.7 points, 11.9 returns and 2.2 blocks per match, Davis had one of the best seasons in his career-actually his best since 2019-20, when he was not randomly helped Lakers win his last championship.
Davis went in 26 points, 16 returns, seven assists and three blocks in his February 8 as a debut as a Maverick, then roaring to approval of the audience, made a sharp contrast with Doncic’s first two matches as Laker.
Games of 14 and 16 points with four assists in each of their first two matches with Los Angeles was far away from 28.6 and 8.2 Doncic average for his career. Commit five turnover in one of these games is the most worrying of Doncic’s first Lakers statistics, especially in connection with release a decision to the low Utah Jazz.
With the gap between hosting a first round of Western Conference Playoff series and appears in Play-in separated by only 3 1/2 games from Valentine’s Day, Lakers have some time to endure growing pain if they are to fight for a title 2025 with Doncic and James.
But the ultimate motivation and possible hidden genius for the shocking Doncic trade is that it may not be a move made with 2025 in mind.
James is, on average, a still outstanding 24.3 points, nine assists and 7.7 returns per match 2024-25. His line of state also highlights what makes Doncic a strange fit, as the two superstars play similar styles, both due to dominating the ball.
But when James debuted in the NBA in 2003, Doncic threw behind back pass at preschool children in Slovenia. Lakers’ time when the James team is approaching an end, and Los Angeles needs the next star that can play that role – a role that has always been a necessary for their 12 championship since moving from Minnesota.
It is a role that Doncic needs to grow. Rumors as surfaces after his trade that Dallas -Mässing were dissatisfied with his conditioning is the longest that a Laker star can get from the Franchise’s beloved icon, Kobe Bryant.
With a game like Magics, however, Doncic has the tools to become the next face of the franchise. It will only take some time for all parties to get used to it.
