The Los Angeles Lakers and Luka Doncic are about to embark on their first playoff run together since the in-season trade. Doncic has been a high-level playoff performer in the past with the Dallas Mavericks and led his team to the NBA Finals last season.
However, there are some who are concerned that he’ll be as effective as in the playoffs for the Lakers. Doncic is one of the best offensive players in the NBA but there have been concerns about what he does on defense.
Former Miami Heat big man and LeBron James teammate Udonis Haslem called out Doncic for his defensive play ahead of the playoffs.
“Luka will have to guard somebody,” Haslem said on “The OGs” podcast. “At least try. … You gotta try, bro. I’m looking at the teams ahead of you, there’s nowhere to hide. If you play OKC, there’s nowhere to hide. … They’re gonna put his (expletive) in action. He’s gonna have to guard. You have to (expletive) guard.”
Haslem may have forgotten that Doncic beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals last season and he didn’t have James as a teammate. Doncic’s lack of defensive intensity can hurt the Lakers but he’s such a dominant offensive force that it shouldn’t be enough to sink their chances of winning a championship.
JJ Redick Relying on Doncic
Lakers head coach JJ Redick has played a lot of playoff games as a player but never as a coach. Luckily for him, he has players like Doncic and James who have played in hundreds of playoff games.
The Lakers face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs and Redick admitted that he’s relying on Doncic and assistant coach Greg St. Jean to prep.
“In my playing career that happened a lot,” Redick told reporters. “There’s regular season and there’s playoffs and often times it’s not completely different things but there are nuances to what teams are trying to do against certain opponents. Greg was on Phoenix last year and got swept by Minnesota –sorry, Greg. Just stating a fact– so he’s got a good level of experience as well. It was literally the thing he said to me as soon as the game was over, so we have a lot of work to do and they’re a really good basketball team.”
Can Lakers Win the Championship?
The Lakers aren’t a perfect team. They lack a high-end center and the depth behind Jaxson Hayes is very concerning. That said, they might have the best collection of offensive talent in the NBA.
Austin Reaves, James and Doncic can all create their own shots and are capable of picking up the offensive slack for each if any of the three are struggling. On paper, the Lakers should have a bad defense but they’ve actually played quite well in recent months.
Los Angeles isn’t the favorite to win the championship this year but they might be the most dangerous team in the playoffs for the top seeds. If James and Doncic are on, it’s going to be hard for any team to beat them.
