Surprises can be good or bad. Sometimes they can even be completely neutral. For the Los Angeles Lakers, their 2024-25 NBA season has undoubtedly been filled with them.
It feels safe to say that there has been more good than bad when it comes to the surprises for Los Angeles. Their record at the All-Star break represents that well. The Lakers currently occupy the fifth seed in the Western Conference, holding a mark of 32-20 through 52 games played.
With 30 games remaining on their schedule, and only 3.0 games separating them from the second seed in the conference, Los Angeles has plenty of room to keep adding positive surprises to a successful campaign. However, before the Lakers resume play on Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets, there is still a good opportunity to revisit and discuss some of the biggest surprises seen in the first half of the season.
Luka Doncic is booked a one-way ticket to Los Angeles
Let's get the obvious one out of the way, Luka Doncic being traded to the Lakers was not only the biggest surprise of the season for the organization, but it may very well have been the biggest shock of the decade for the NBA world. No one saw this coming.
BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Three-team deal that includes Utah.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025
Shams Charania stunned the entirety of basketball fans, players, coaches, etc. alike with one tweet on Feb. 2. The deal is still being discussed to this day as one of the most mind-boggling trades that the NBA has ever seen. Given the incredible amount of player movement on display in the last decade, that says a lot.
The Lakers' previously murky future now has a clear direction with Doncic in the fold. That should be a fact that excites the team's fans, players, management, everybody.
Lakers slow it down offensively
This one can be categorized as neither good or bad, just surprising. The Lakers have taken a more methodical approach to their offensive game in one specific area.
In the 2023-24 NBA season, Los Angeles played with one of the fastest paces in the league, posting a mark of 101.38, according to NBA.com. That placed them fourth in the pace category.
In 2024-25, that number has come down a significant bit. The Lakers are playing at a pace of 98.61 this season. That puts them 22nd in the NBA when it comes to that metric.
The good news for the Lakers and their fans would be the outcome of that change. Their offense has improved. At the break, the Lakers possess the 9th-ranked offensive rating (114.6) in the NBA.
The blossoming of Austin Reaves
Austin Reaves' leap from good player to that of a borderline star has been one of the brightest spots of the 2024-25 NBA season for Los Angeles. There is no way to describe this campaign from Reaves as anything other than a resounding success.
The fourth-year pro has proven capable of both playing a strong supporting role to the superstars around him and stepping into the spotlight when called upon. Reaves is averaging career highs in notable categories like points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game, and steals per game.
An argument can be made this is simply a case of more opportunity. 2024-25 would be the highest usage percentage (23.3) that Reaves has ever posted. However, when stacking up the per 36 averages of the Lakers guard throughout his four seasons, this season clearly stands above the rest, heading into the second half of the 2024-25 campaign.