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As the dust settles around the earth-shattering Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade between the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks, sources close to the Lakers say Rob Pelinka is now focused on building a roster that can compete this year, utilizing the team's remaining draft capital after miraculously not having to expend all of it on Doncic.
Interestingly, their stance is pretty similar now to what it was before the trade. They need a center, but they were looking for one before. They need perimeter defense after moving Max Christie, but that was next on their priority list before. As Rob Pelinka's top client once said, “job's not finished. Job finished? I don't think so.”
Davis almost singlehandedly made up for a lot of poor defensive presences across the roster. Without him as the back line of the defense, and without Christie's presence on the perimeter, the Lakers almost assuredly going to fall towards the bottom of NBA defensive rankings.
So, the hope becomes that they can either find a stable enough defensive center to make up for Davis' absence, or put together a group so overwhelming on the other end, they can mitigate that defensive weakness.
Lakers' next steps after Luka Doncic trade
After trading for Doncic, the absolutely critical first step was figuring out how to move forward with LeBron James.
According to some, it feels pretty unlikely that James had zero idea about this trade as it was apparently in the works for weeks and finally came together over the last few days. Reports have been adamant, however, that James only found out moments before the world did. Regardless, James and Pelinka spoke shortly after the trade was finalized, and his focus is still on competing in L.A.
There had been a ton of speculation in league circles that James would OK a trade to the Golden State Warriors. Any such possibility became moot, as James holds a no-trade-clause and, according to sources, absolutely loves living in Los Angeles and still intends to retire a Laker.
If so, then Doncic, James and Austin Reaves will have to find a way to become so unstoppable offensively it might not sting so bad when they regularly give up 120 points.
One potential tweak to the rotation could be moving Reaves to the bench to man the second unit and stagger his minutes with Doncic so as to maintain consistent offensive creativity but not at the cost of how they'd defend together. Even despite trading Christie, the Lakers still have enough wings to protect both Reaves and Doncic in lineups, though league sources have indicated Rui Hachimura remains on the trade block either for a center (think Jakob Poeltl or Robert Williams III – it's unlikely they have the assets remaining for Myles Turner) or Christie replacement (Bruce Brown or Josh Green come to mind).
If the Lakers want to lean completely into offense, then they could call about Nikola Vucevic. Sources have indicated those conversations have slowed over the last couple weeks, but could pick up again as prices tend to drop the closer you get to the trade deadline. The Lakers do have one fewer second-rounder to work with, which complicates the matter, but could also heavily protect a first or demand second-rounders back in a trade involving the first.
One thing the Lakers are also going to run into now, according to league sources, is how much less valuable their future draft capital is worth now that they swapped out the nearly 32-year-0ld Davis for the nearly 26-year-old Doncic.
“For a while now, the thinking was, bet against the Lakers once LeBron is gone,” one West executive texted Sunday morning. “That bet pays a lot less now. Luka is good for 50 wins with almost any team and he's entering his prime.”
Regardless of which direction they take the roster or how the address issues specifically, league sources are fairly certain the Lakers don't want to waste potentially their only season with Doncic and James on the roster together. Recent reports from Dallas have indicated Doncic might return before the All-Star break but if not, then certainly soon afterward. The sooner the better, as they'll have to figure out how to play together on the fly during the spring to the playoffs.
With only days remaining before the trade deadline, the Lakers don't have time to pat themselves on the back. Landing Doncic is quite the accomplishment in and of itself, but as the Mavericks taught their fans in the harshest way possible, you never know how much time you have.
