The Los Angeles Lakers have promised Luka Doncic that they will build a team around him that draws inspiration from the 2023-24 Dallas Mavericks. Doncic went on a magical run to the NBA Finals with the Mavericks in 2024, only to be traded to the Lakers less than a year later.
With the flexibility to finally build a roster that caters to Doncic's strengths and weaknesses, the Lakers are committed to doing exactly that. That process will begin at the 2026 NBA Draft.
Los Angeles will have the No. 25 overall selection at the 2026 NBA Draft. It's a rare opportunity for Rob Pelinka to add a young player on a rookie-scale contract, as well as a clay-like talent that can be molded to fit JJ Redick's system. A recent rumor may shed a light on how they intend to do so.
According to Dan Woike and Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Lakers made promises to Doncic that include replicating and improving the type of roster he reached the 2024 NBA Finals with.
"Those promises were to give him a locker room full of his type of players, to find him replicants, if not improvements, of the balanced roster he made a finals run with in Dallas in 2024 before the stunning trade that sent him west...Those priorities remain, according to league sources."
That makes the Lakers' top priority at the 2026 NBA Draft all but unavoidable: Athleticism and defense, whether it's along the interior or the perimeter.
Lakers need to become more athletic at 2026 NBA Draft
The 2023-24 Mavericks built their roster around Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who would seemingly be replicated by Doncic and Austin Reaves. Chief among the supporting cast were athletic 3-and-D wing Derrick Jones Jr. and the interior trio of Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II, and P.J. Washington.
Each one of Gafford, Lively, and Washington proved comfortable as pick-and-roll finishers and lob targets, which the Lakers are currently short on.
Free agency will be a key resource for finding "replicants," but the NBA Draft is a cost-efficient way to find promising talent. There's a realistic world in which Los Angeles not only finds a young player who fits the mold of the aforementioned former Doncic teammates, but does so on a four-year deal that barely impacts their cap space.
Though there is a degree of uncertainty surrounding their current up-and-comers, the Lakers can kickstart the effort to build a sustainable core around Doncic if they ace their pick.
The good news is that the 2026 NBA Draft is considered to be a promising event flush with high-end talent. In addition to a stacked top 10, there's considerable depth in regard to promising players who proved their quality to some degree at the collegiate level.
If the Lakers were sincere about their promise to Doncic, then becoming more athletic would be a great first step toward recreating the Mavericks team he reached the NBA Finals with.
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