The Los Angeles Lakers have gotten a taste of Luka Doncic representing their franchise on the court. Doncic has played two games for the Lakers already, but he played under 25 minutes in both games as he was on a minutes restriction after recovering from a calf injury.
With an extra week to heal up during the All-Star break, Lakers head coach JJ Redick has made it clear that Doncic will be playing at full capacity from now onwards.
“JJ Redick’s response when asked about Luka Doncic’s ramp-up after being on a minutes restriction pre-ASB: ‘He’ll be fine…His minutes will be up tomorrow. And I don’t think that there’s going to be any restriction going forward.'”
Doncic averaged 15.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in his two games with the Lakers. Both games came against the Utah Jazz, with the Lakers splitting the results. Doncic’s shooting splits have been ugly through these games, as he’s gone 40.7% from the field and 26.7% from three. While that could have been attributed to rust as he came off a long injury absence, there are no excuses for Doncic going forward.
LeBron James is questionable for the Lakers’ first post-All-Star back-to-back against the Charlotte Hornets tomorrow and the Portland Trail Blazers the day after. If LeBron doesn’t play, Doncic will be expected to carry the offensive load for the team against these two lottery opponents. We know James most likely won’t play in both games anyway due to his ankle injury.
Luka Doncic Needs To Return To His MVP Version
The Lakers made a bet when they acquired Luka Doncic that the best years of basketball are still in the future for him. The Dallas Mavericks think Doncic has peaked and got rid of him when his value was high, so the Lakers will be hoping Doncic gets to proving his former franchise wrong as soon as possible.
Getting better than the version of him we saw in Dallas is easier said than done. Let’s not forget Luka averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 9.8 assists last season and led his squad to the NBA Finals. The bar is high and the expectations on the Lakers are higher, so without an MVP-caliber Doncic, nothing is going to be achieved in LA.
He has looked slow, sluggish, and inefficient in his first two games for the Lakers. Everyone understands giving him space to adjust after a major mid-season trade but the Lakers don’t want to see their strong record start disintegrating because Doncic is playing his way into shape after a major lower-body injury.
The Lakers are 32-20 so far this season, battling to climb into the top four of the West. This is an easily attainable goal, and Doncic has to be the one to take this franchise to those heights.
LeBron is still playing great basketball, but this is going to be Doncic’s team now. If he can’t be the future MVP the Lakers think they acquired, it could be an ominous sign of what’s to come.
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