Rob Pelinka was vocal about 'co-creating' the new Los Angeles Lakers roster with Luka Doncic at his start-of-season press conference. The Lakers' franchise guy had little hesitation about openly confirming as much. In the new Sports Illustrated feature with Chris Mannix, Luka said his fingerprints were on 'probably everything.' He said those words with a smile on his face, according to Mannix.
Doncic added: "I think we’re very deep, which is very important, especially going to the playoffs. And we have guys that are not afraid. Some of the new guys, I’ve played against. They are not afraid."
The jokes write themselves. The Lakers have gone from LeGM (LeBron James) to LuGM.
In all seriousness, there is nothing wrong about getting your most important player's input on roster decisions. Even Austin Reaves had some way this summer, by his own admission.
However, it must be said that Doncic has invited onto himself a bigger chunk of accountability for how things play out in Los Angeles. You know how that clichéd saying goes: pressure makes diamonds. Luka will need that to be proven true in the upcoming 2026-27 season.
Luka Doncic's roster influence will not be without scrutiny
You can envision it already, right? A bad stretch of games for the Lakers and the talk shows are going to be coming right after Doncic.
They will harp on him for bringing the struggles on himself. The arguments will be that Doncic asked for these very players, so he should shoulder all the blame for the shortcomings They will scrutinize him for overstepping and not letting Pelinka do his job. It could be a field day.
That makes it Doncic's responsibility for the Lakers to succeed. In that sense, there is nothing new. A top-five player in the world was already going to face that type of pressure. There is just a bigger lens and new angle to direct pointed conversations at him.
So, how does Doncic overcome it all?
The answer to that is as simple as you think. The Lakers need to win, exceed expectations, and look the part of at least a championship dark horse.
A strong individual season from Doncic that invites talks of MVP should not hurt either. That would immediately spin the narratives on their head. The conversation then becomes about how Luka masterfully knew what it would take for him and the Lakers to thrive.
In a way, this can prove to be a very good thing for the franchise. Doncic is a superstar who loves having fuel to bring out his best. The most optimistic version of how this all goes: the added pressure he put on himself proves to be what gets him fired up.
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