he Los Angeles Lakers are a good team with Luka Doncic on the roster. Are they significantly better than the Mavericks teams he has been on in the past?
Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images
The Los Angeles Lakers brought in Luka Doncic because they think he makes them a title contender. They brought him in because it keeps their title window open for the next decade.
A big reason why the Lakers were so happy to have him in Los Angeles is because of what the next few years look like. That doesn’t mean that they are just dismissing this year as a chance to win a title.
This year’s Lakers team has played really well when the team was fully healthy. Unfortunately, they are not healthy right now and have lost four straight games as a result.
Still, this team is very good when they have all of their pieces together on the court. That includes LeBron James, who is still recovering from a groin strain.
So, how good is this Lakers team compared to the past Mavericks teams that Doncic has been a part of? How good is this team compared to the best Dallas teams he led?
This Lakers team still isn’t as good as last year’s Mavs team that made the Finals. Dallas turned into a top-ten defense once they acquired Daniel Gafford in a trade.
Doncic made the Mavs a top-five offense himself, but Kyrie Irving was also a big part of what the team was able to do offensively. They made the Finals because Doncic was able to slow the game down to his tempo.
On pure talent, that is the only Mavericks team that is better than this current Lakers team. The Lakers have so many offensive options that teams don’t know how to stop them.
Even the Mavericks team that made the Western Conference Finals in 2021-22 that had Jalen Brunson on it wasn’t as good as this year’s Lakers team.
Los Angeles just needs to get healthy. Once they get their guys back, including Doncic, they should be ready to compete for an NBA title this year.
So far with the Lakers, Doncic is averaging 26.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game.