The Los Angeles Lakers have embraced a new vision that could yield landscape-altering results. With a blockbuster trade for the ages, Los Angeles acquired one of the very best players on the planet less than eight months after they were playing in the NBA Finals.
If Rob Pelinka is going to maximize the Luka Doncic era, however, then he must learn from his past mistakes with the NBA Draft.
Doncic is one of the most dominant forces in the NBA. In seven seasons, he's compiled career averages of 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.0 offensive board, 8.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 3.0 three-point field goals made per game.
Doncic ranks No. 3 all-time in career scoring average, trailing just Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain, and checks in at No. 12 in assists per game.
In 2023-24, Doncic won the scoring title by averaging 33.9 points per game, as well as 9.8 assists and 9.2 rebounds, on .487/.382/.786 shooting. To cap that historic season off, he led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals.
If the Lakers are going to get the most out of Doncic's tenure and help him take the final step toward becoming a champion, they'll need to remember the value of the NBA Draft.
Lakers must hit on all future first-round draft picks
In previous seasons, the Lakers have struck gold by prioritizing star power over the NBA Draft. That includes the trade that swapped Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, and three future first-round draft picks for Anthony Davis, with Los Angeles winning a title in Davis' first year with the team.
The Davis era was marked by a glaring absence of ideal depth, however, due in large part to how Los Angeles squandered its draft-night opportunities.
The last player whom the Lakers drafted in the first round and kept under contract for at least two full seasons was Ball. Considering Los Angeles selected Ball in 2017, and the Lakers are without a 2025 first-round selection, at least a full decade will pass until that trend is potentially broken.
It should thus come as no surprise that the Lakers' rotation has been flush with players on minimum contracts, thus rendering the team's depth obsolete.
In 2024-25, Los Angeles is expectedly ranking No. 28 in bench points per game. It's spent the season tasking veterans on minimum deals and up-and-comers on two-way contracts with providing adequate depth in key areas of the game.
To make matters worse, the Lakers will be without first-round draft picks in 2025, 2027, 2029, and 2031, meaning the search for cost-effective talent will require a continued pursuit of players on minimum-level deals.
Los Angeles can address some of these concerns by making the most of its first-round picks in 2026, 2028, and 2030, and its second-round selections along the way. Even if it fails to land a cornerstone, simply adding a rotation-level talent on a rookie-scale contract could offer invaluable relief to Doncic and the other starters.
If the Lakers continue to fail to acquire cost-efficient players via the Draft, however, then their depth chart will be riddled with fringe NBA talent—and the Doncic era will be limited accordingly.