The Los Angeles Lakers have made extraordinary progress since acquiring Luka Doncic during the 2024-25 season. They've secured back-to-back 50-win seasons. as well as home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs in each of the past two campaigns.
For as rewarding as the high-end return has been from the Doncic trade, there's an underrated reality that he's responsible for: Los Angeles can finally avoid the Play-In Tournament.
The Play-In Tournament has been a wild ride for every team involved. On the harsher end of things, the LA Clippers and Miami Heat saw their respective seasons come to a heartbreaking end, and the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns were forced to play additional basketball after losing the No. 7 vs No. 8 seed games.
Though the Lakers may have avoided the same fate with a degree of comfort in 2025-26, it's imperative to remember that it wasn't all that long ago that they were stuck in the Play-In.
Los Angeles endured the unavoidable stress of the Play-In Tournament in 2021, 2023, and 2024. It avoided said fate in 2022, but that unfortunately transpired due to the fact that the Lakers outright missed the playoffs.
Thankfully, Doncic has bucked the trend and made it two consecutive seasons during which the Lakers have managed to avoid the Play-In Tournament.
Lakers have avoided Play-In Tournament thanks to Luka Doncic
Doncic deserves immeasurable praise for getting the Lakers to the playoffs without needing to go through the Play-In Tournament. He helped Los Angeles overcome playing 20 games without LeBron James, 31 sans Austin Reaves, and 20 down Marcus Smart.
Despite enduring a rush of injuries that would destroy a vast majority of teams, the Lakers managed to win 53 games—due in no small part to Doncic.
On a per-game basis, Doncic led the NBA in scoring at 33.5 points, ranked third in assists at 8.3, and finished sixth in steals at 1.6. Beyond his individual numbers, he put the team on his back on countless occasions and led Los Angeles to a 43-21 record when he played.
Doncic also saved the Lakers from an underwhelming 6-6 record in February by averaging 37.5 points per game while helping Los Angeles go 15-2 in March.
As a result, the Lakers pulled away from the Play-In pack and positioned themselves to directly reach the playoffs. In turn, they went from having to endure the stress of the Play-In experience in three out of four years to securing consecutive postseason berths.
There are an abundance of reasons to praise Doncic and his impact on the Lakers, but the underrated impact of saving the team from the Play-In Tournament can't be overlooked.
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