After a surprisingly robust offseason for the Los Angeles Lakers, followers are little doubt anticipating subsequent season to start out. Thankfully for them, they’ve EuroBasket to observe.
Particularly Luka Dončić, who has been balling out for his house nation. Him placing up large offensive numbers is sort of a given at this level, however Doncic not too long ago confirmed off much-improved protection.
Luka with again to again blocks 😤
Doncic enjoying stable protection thus far pic.twitter.com/xWJIhB1HrS
— LakeShow Highlights (@LSH_lakeshow) August 28, 2025
Doncic’s protection has been broadly criticized at instances, particularly throughout the 2024 NBA Finals. That show finally led Dallas Mavericks GM Niko Harrison to commerce him to the Lakers.
His loss, and the Lakers’ achieve. Significantly with Doncic having slimmed down. Him dropping weight this summer season has apparently given him extra vitality to expend on protection, with a current EuroBasket displaying making waves on-line.
An engaged Luka Doncic on protection is a game-changer for the Lakers
The Lakers have made a number of strikes this offseason to bolster their protection, including Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia, and Marcus Sensible. Every of them might assist the Lakers subsequent season, however an engaged Doncic is also impactful on that finish.
Him being greater than a turnstile on protection and being energetic implies that groups cannot assault him. The outdated adage “you are solely as robust as your weakest hyperlink” rings true for crew protection.
If Doncic had been a minimum of energetic on protection for the Lakers, it could increase their flooring, which might be within the 20s on that finish, and improve their ceiling. They most likely do not have sufficient personnel to be a top-five protection, however top-10 is the best-case state of affairs and extra real looking if Doncic buys in.
A Doncic-led Los Angeles Lakers are sleeping giants within the West
Doncic will not be one of the best participant within the NBA, however he has the expertise to be one of the best participant within the NBA. Him being in one of the best enjoying form of his profession offers Lakers followers hope that he can lastly put all of it collectively and go from being a borderline MVP candidate to being a shoo-in for the award.
It is clear that is not LeBron James’ crew and can solely go so far as Doncic takes them. Throughout his final full season, again in 2023-24, he posted an outrageous 33.9 factors, 9.2 rebounds, and 9.8 assists, giving Lakers followers a baseline for a peak Doncic season.
Something near that or higher might be sufficient to ship him an MVP and thrust L.A. into title competition. Particularly if he’s near common on protection.
In the end, Doncic displaying off his protection in EuroBasket proves that he has untapped potential at that finish of the ground. His weight reduction ought to give him extra vitality to make use of on protection whereas hopefully additionally translating right into a profession yr on the Lakers subsequent season.
