The Los Angeles Lakers and their offense were always bound to evolve after the Luka Doncic trade. When you get gifted one of the best players on the planet, and his biggest strengths come on the offensive side of the basketball court, it would be foolish not to adapt to playing his brand of basketball.
The Lakers are not foolish. JJ Redick has consistently driven the point home of getting Doncic comfortable with his fit and role in Los Angeles. LeBron James has even deferred to Doncic on the offensive end, allowing Luka to be the primary decision-maker and superstar through which the offense flows. That has had the bonus effect of allowing James to continue his renaissance on the defensive end.
The Slovenian superstar grows more confident by the day. It feels plain and obvious for anyone watching. Doncic still has work left when it comes to fully reestablishing himself as the generational talent that was on full display with the Dallas Mavericks. However, his statistics since the Denver Nuggets game look a lot more akin to that player.
Doncic has averaged 27.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and 2.4 steals in the seven-game sample size from the Nuggets matchup onward. The shooting splits of 41-34-76 still leave room for improvement, but everyone else is thriving around the dynamic offensive weapon.
How the Lakers offense has changed
The biggest shift relating to how the Lakers play offense has come from where Los Angeles is taking their shots. As the team has morphed around Doncic, that aspect has fundamentally changed. During the eight-game winning streak that the Lakers are enjoying with Doncic, almost half of their shots are coming from beyond the arc.
Los Angeles has attempted 48.0 percent of their field goals from 3-point land over these last eight games. That lands them third in the league when it comes to the highest percentages of 3-pointers attempted, only trailing the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Since Luka Dončić’s debut, the Lakers have attempted 40-plus 3s in 9 of the 10 games he’s played. They had done so just 7 times over the first 50 games of the season.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) March 8, 2025
The Lakers rank third in 3PT attempts per 100 poss. (42.7) over that stretch. Boston remains No. 1 (50.5!). https://t.co/kiV9GS0dhi
That is a notable difference when comparing it to their numbers on the entirety of the 2024-25 NBA season. They rank 16th when looking at the campaign as a whole, with a mark of 41.4 percent. It is important to remember that even those numbers have the boost included from Doncic's arrival.
The results in the win-loss column speak for themselves. Although, the Lakers would still want to improve the percentage at which they are converting those shots. Los Angeles has knocked down 33.7 percent of their 3-pointers over the last eight games. That mark is actually a touch worse than their season percentage of 35.5.
Dorian Finney-Smith said he’s been getting “buck-naked wide-open” shots playing with LeBron James & Luka Doncic 👀pic.twitter.com/3NJbLMgNEb
— Digits Sports App (@Digits3App) February 25, 2025
To some extent, fixing the percentage is on the players. Dorian Finney-Smith said it best when he described the type of shots available on the perimeter when playing next do Doncic and James.
With 21 games left on the schedule, the Lakers will have the opportunity to keep adjusting to their new style of offense. It should be a scary thought for teams around the league that Los Angeles is already this great without even fully figuring out everything they need to on the offensive end.