Whenever someone wants to take a shot at Luka Doncic, the defensive side of the basketball court is usually the first place they will turn to for an opportunity to discredit the Los Angeles Lakers superstar. Rob Pelinka and the front office need to do their parts to minimize those conversations.
Lakers fans will know Doncic is nowhere near an actual liability. Unlike many of Luka's loudest critics, they have actually watched the Lakers point guard play this past season.
Doncic has his strengths on defense. He's solid in isolation, has a good knack for creating steals, and cleans the glass exceptionally well. On the whole, Luka can largely be viewed as an average defender at worst. Even so, people will go clip hunting and nitpick the bad plays that can be found with just about any player.
Perhaps it is the stark contrast of being average on one end versus being one of the best on the other. Doncic is a top-two player on the offensive end, and that does stand out when stacking it up against the defensive side of the court. Whatever the case is, Pelinka's assignment should be giving Luka the type of support around him which keeps the focus on his gifts, not his shortcomings.
Lakers need to give Luka Doncic All-Defensive levels of support
If the Lakers intend on running back the trio of Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James, the last two starters beside those three need to be highly impactful defenders. They need to be more than good. They have to be elite.
"I would like, at some point, [to] see Luka paired with an All-Defensive talent," Iztok Franko said during an appearance on Buha's Block.
Franko and Jovan Buha pointed to Marcus Smart as a blueprint for how much one player can change the defense. Now, imagine having two guys of that caliber.
Doncic, Reaves, and James are all capable on the defensive end, but are also flawed in their own individual ways. Maximizing the final two spots in the starting lineup would give the Lakers a much more consistent floor as to what they can be on that side of the court.
LeBron is not bound to the Lakers forever, given his age, so eventually the formula will be slightly altered on what works in Los Angeles. However, anyone brought in to coexist with those three can still work in a Doncic-led long-term future.
Eyeing up a real rim-protecting defensive anchor at the five, and a two-way monster on the wings would allow the Lakers to find real balance on the floor. That is the path toward an idealized version of what the team can be to highlight the best qualities of having Doncic at its forefront.
Add us as a preferred source on Google