On Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers took their second straight loss with a narrow home defeat at the hands of the Orlando Magic. The Lakers had a chance to win this one late, but Luka Doncic gave up his dribble and was forced to pass to LeBron James, whose turnaround heave from beyond the arc clanked off the backboard and rim.
Much has been made about the Lakers' perceived roster deficiencies in recent weeks, and now, ESPN NBA analyst Brian Windhorst has added more fuel to the discourse.
“When Luka [Doncic], LeBron [James], and Austin Reaves play together, they're just not a good team… When it's just [Austin & Luka] out there, the Lakers are an excellent team,” said Windhorst on First Take, per NBA Courtside on X, formerly Twitter.
Indeed, James, Doncic, and Reaves in many ways have skillsets that cancel each other out, with none of them being good defenders and all of them needing the ball in order to be at their best offensively.
Many have floated the idea that the Lakers will either let James walk or bring him back on a much more team-friendly deal this offseason in order to construct a more viable roster around Doncic, one similar to the Dallas Mavericks squad that made the Finals back in 2024 before the team inexplicably traded him to Los Angeles.
Doncic and Reaves have formed a lethal one-two punch in the games they've played together without James, but when all three are in the lineup, none of them are able to be their full productive selves on offense, and the team's defense tends to flounder.
Still, despite this, the Lakers sit 11 games over the .500 mark at 34-23, and are not out of the picture to secure home court advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
The Lakers will next take the floor on Thursday evening on the road vs the Phoenix Suns.
