The Los Angeles Lakers have made it clear that they intend to give Luka Doncic the type of roster he's won with in the past. The 2024 Dallas Mavericks team that Doncic led to the NBA Finals has been consistently referenced in that regard, with the Lakers reportedly promising their franchise player that they'll recreate the aforementioned roster structure.
While Los Angeles has good reason to channel Dallas' strategy, they must be willing to think outside the box and adapt to how much Victor Wembanyama has changed the NBA.
The key players the Lakers will likely attempt to find metaphorical replicas of from the 2023-24 Mavericks are Daniel Gafford, Kyrie Irving, Derrick Jones Jr., Dereck Lively II, and P.J. Washington. Irving's role will likely be occupied by Austin Reaves, whom the Lakers are expected to re-sign.
Gafford and Lively, meanwhile, are athletic rim protectors and lob targets whom Doncic successfully ran the pick-and-roll with, while Jones and Washington are quality 3-and-D players at the 3 and 4 spots.
The Lakers are undoubtedly wise to target players who fit the aforementioned archetypes. Each of those characteristics can be accurately described as both valuable and downright essential to maximizing the franchise player's potential.
If a player comes along who can help the team without fitting the mold of what used to work, however, the Lakers can't be afraid to take a chance on their value.
Lakers can't be afraid to add new element to what worked for Luka Doncic
Though it was only two years ago, the Association has changed rather drastically since Doncic reached the 2024 NBA Finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder cultivated even more depth while developing star players, the Eastern Conference has been reshuffled in virtually every way, and Wembanyama has raised interior standards at just 22 years of age.
The Lakers also still need to figure out how to overcome Nikola Jokic in a postseason setting having lost eight of their past nine playoff games against him.
Doncic and the Mavericks clearly had success, reaching the NBA Finals in 2024 and the Western Conference Finals in 2022. Wembanyama has made it essential to have floor-spacing bigs, however, and Jokic is an all but unstoppable post presence who must be contained.
Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, has made it essential for teams to have not just one, but a small surplus of high-level perimeter defenders and rim protectors to slow him down.
Some of those needs fit what Doncic already knows. Others call for new additions, however, including a center who can space the floor and a longer list of high-level wing defenders than the Mavericks surrounded him with in 2021-22 or 2023-24.
The Lakers shouldn't abandon the strategy to recreate past success, but they must be aware of how much the NBA has changed in just two years as they do so.
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