Luka Doncic is no worse than a top-two offensive player in the NBA. However, even someone as talented as him will have a style with which the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is comfortable. For Doncic, that can often be getting the ball in his hands and spamming the pick-and-roll.
JJ Redick, meanwhile, is trying to switch things up in Los Angeles. The Lakers coach is aiming to build a more free-flowing offense. When reporters surrounded Doncic after practice, Raj Chipalu asked Luka about that shift in offensive style and how it has played out in the first three preseason games.
Doncic said: "I like my pick-and-rolls. There's gonna be a lot of off-ball. I've been playing more off-ball even last year. So, it's good to get off the ball, and just flow in the offense."
It is hard to think someone as gifted as Doncic will not adjust to whatever suits the Lakers best on offense. Despite that, it is still difficult to forget countless memories of games in which it was death by pick-and-roll for the defenses facing Luka. The claims of playing more off-ball last season also thread the line of technically true, but not quite what the Slovenian superstar paints the situation as.
Luka Doncic remains an on-ball specialist and it will take time for that to evolve
Since arriving in Los Angeles, Doncic has indeed posted lower figures when it comes to on-ball percentage by comparison to his days with the Dallas Mavericks. Last season, Luka registered a mark of 42.4 percent in that category. The year prior, it was an on-ball percentage of 37.2 for him.
42.2 percent in 2025-26 was the third lowest mark of his career. It also happened to still be in the 100th percentile for that regular season campaign.
The 2024-25 season split between the Mavericks and Lakers was indeed the record low for Doncic when it comes to his on-ball percentage. It even dropped him down to the 85th percentile. How much of that was due to the awkward midseason adjustment to Los Angeles from the most unexpected trade in NBA history?
The fact of the matter is Doncic only has two of his eight seasons ranking lower than the 99th percentile when it comes to on-ball percentages. Apart from the one already discussed, 2023-24 is the other. Even that campaign saw him finish in the 97th percentile.
Simply put: Luka likes being on the ball. Considering the all-time great offensive player that comes out as a result of that, it is understandable why that is the case.
That is not to say Doncic will not adjust, if needed. You never discount that great of a talent. It may just take real time before the new version of Luka, that is meant to exist within Redick's evolving scheme, is fully actualized.
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