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In the aftermath of the Los Angeles Lakers’ trade for superstar Luka Doncic, one of the headlines coming out of Dallas is that the Mavericks reportedly were not thrilled with Doncic’s conditioning. Following the trade, both Markieff Morris and Maxi Kleber, traded to the Lakers along with Doncic, came to his defense. Dorian Finney-Smith, who was a teammate of Doncic back in Dallas, was the latest to push back against the conditioning narrative, as per Lauren Jones of LoJo Media.
“I know him, he wants to play the whole game. I think he played 40 minutes every game last playoffs,” Finney-Smith said following the Lakers’ practice on Wednesday. “He’s a hooper, he wants to play. I don’t really look at the noise, I look at his production and he produces. S**t, if I’m putting up them type of numbers, maybe I need to be 270.”
Dorian Finney-Smith and Luka Doncic were teammates for about four and a half seasons with the Mavericks. Finney-Smith actually predated Doncic in Dallas, arriving in the 2016-17 season while Doncic arrived in 2018-19 season. The duo are now reunited with the Lakers.
Luka Doncic on the Lakers
While Doncic has yet to make his Lakers’ debut, he did arrive in Los Angeles and was on the bench with the team during their 122-97 win against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday. The Lakers and Doncic are targeting Saturday, Feb. 8 for his debut, against the Indiana Pacers.
One of the big questions surrounding the Lakers’ acquisition of Doncic is how well he and LeBron James will mesh together on the court. For Finney-Smith, he doesn’t foresee any potential issues between the Lakers’ new star duo
“He builds his own relationship with everybody in the locker room. I would say he’s been like that since I’ve seen him in his rookie year. You could tell he had a pro approach early,” Finney-Smith said. “Everybody keeps talking about how him and LeBron may not work. If you know Luka’s personality, he gels well with anybody. He’s a competitor. He smiles a lot, but once he’s on the court he turns into a dog.”
Alongside James and Austin Reaves, Doncic gives the Lakers yet another capable ball-handler and playmaker. Since Reaves has moved into the full-time starting point guard role, he’s been impressive as a passer. And of course James is a triple double threat each game.
Prior to his calf injury, Doncic had played in 22 games for the Mavericks at a little over 35 minutes per game. He had been averaging 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 2.0 steals with splits of 46.4 percent shooting from the field, 35.4 percent shooting from the three-point line and 76.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
