A report surfaced last week that the Los Angeles Lakers had their “sights set” on acquiring Luka Doncic in the future. While their dream will likely remain just that, not everyone associated with the Lakers would be happy with the Dallas Mavericks star as their main attraction.
Former Lakers champion Robert Horry went on his show, the “Big Shot Bob” podcast, this week and warned LA of having someone like Luka Doncic as their lead man. “He ain’t the best defender now and that’s the Lakers problem! You gotta have some athletic guys that can play some defense and Luka, he can score with the best of them, but we also know you gotta take beers out of his hand… He gonna be good but he ain’t gonna be what you need.”
The take of Doncic not being a good enough defender or not being in shape is worn out at this point. Doncic just took his team to the NBA Finals two years after leading the Mavs to the Western Conference Finals. Whether he’s an average defender or not clearly doesn’t matter if he can give his team 30 points and 10 assists. What matters is the players you surround him with.
Nico Harrison and the rest of the front office have done a great job surrounding Doncic with talent, trading for Kyrie Irving in 2023, drafting Dereck Lively II, and acquiring P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford, and Klay Thompson this year are all moves made with Doncic in mind.
Doncic has two years plus a player option remaining on his deal, but he’ll be eligible for his next supermax extension next offseason, which will be worth over $346 million. As long as Dallas remains competitive and keeps surrounding him with premier talent, he’ll be happy to stay with the only NBA franchise he’s played with to this point.
The Lakers will always be connected to the next rising talents of the NBA. As one of the most accomplished franchises in professional sports, they have that right, but Doncic seems like an aspiration too far out of reach.
