Lakers must finally grant Luka Doncic's longtime wish before the trade deadline

Luka Doncic has made it clear that he hopes to add the most prominent regular season accolade that has eluded him to his otherwise ironclad résumé: MVP. Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is making that quite the tall task, but roughly half the season remains for Doncic to make his run.

With Doncic already on pace to win a second career scoring title, the Lakers must help grant their franchise player's wish by making trades that enable the team to win enough games to make his MVP dreams a reality.

Doncic is currently averaging 33.4 points, 8.7 assists, 7.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 3.4 three-point field goals made per game on a 26-17 Lakers team. Though there are critics of certain elements of what he's brought to the table this season, there's an easy path from where he is to legitimate MVP candidacy.

During a December interview with Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Doncic made it clear that he is, in fact, hopeful that he can one day win MVP.

For those who can't watch the video, Doncic said the following:

"My first focus is obviously a championship. I don't try to think that much of individual awards. But obviously, anybody who plays basketball wants the MVP. Obviously, I want it. But it's going to come with our team winning."

If the Lakers hope to grant Doncic's wish, then they must act before the trade deadline to strengthen the roster around him and make a rise up the standings a realistic goal.

Luka Doncic wants to win MVP, but Lakers need to win more games

Whether fair or foul, a player winning MVP is typically tied to their team at least securing home court advantage. Russell Westbrook in 2017 and Nikola Jokic in 2022 offer hope that such a trend can be broken once again, but they're the lone exceptions during the 21st century.

Thankfully, the Lakers are well within reach as they sit just 1.0 game back of the No. 4 seed and a manageable 4.0 games behind the No. 2 seed.

In the event that Doncic leads a surge toward the No. 2 seed, the MVP conversation will become quite interesting. Unfortunately, it's difficult to imagine the Lakers doing so without making at least one move ahead of the trade deadline to address their growing list of flaws.

That includes the fact that the Lakers rank No. 25 in the NBA in defensive rating—the type of figure they'll struggle to overcome in regard to truly ranking among the Association's elite.

Thankfully, the Lakers have assets they can trade and the NBA is flush with reasonable trade targets. The question is: Will Los Angeles finally act on improving its rotation or will it stay the course in favor of preserving its cap space for the 2026 period of free agency?

Though they wouldn't necessarily be in the wrong to hold steady, granting Doncic's wish of winning MVP will rely heavily on how they approach the trade deadline.