The Los Angeles Lakers pulled off a massive trade ahead of the 2024-25 NBA deadline to acquire generational superstar Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks.
It was a trade that completely shocked the NBA. Also, the move shifted the landscape of the future.
Doncic helped the Lakers make a run to the playoffs. Unfortunately, the team had too many flaws to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves. They will need to add more defense and a legitimate center in order to compete with the Western Conference.
Thankfully, Rob Pelinka and company have their franchise cornerstone of the future. Doncic will be the player that Los Angeles builds around for years to come.
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With that in mind, the 26-year-old superstar has received a powerful message from a Lakers legend.
Magic Johnson appeared on "Get Up" and spoke out about many different topics. One of them was sending a message to Doncic about what Los Angeles expects from a superstar player. That expectation is to bring a championship to the Lakers.
"It's great what you did in Dallas. But the difference is, in Los Angeles, we expect championships," Johnson said. "And we expect our superstars to lead us to a championship. LeBron has already done that. Now we want Luka to do the same thing."
During the 28 games he played for Los Angeles after the trade, Doncic averaged 28.2 points per game to go along with 8.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 1.6 steals. He also shot 43.8 percent from the floor and 37.9 percent from three-point range.
Those numbers were impressive, especially following a midseason trade.
In the playoffs, Doncic appeared in five games. He averaged 30.2 points, seven rebounds, 5.8 assists, and a steal per game.
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A lot of work is still needed for Doncic to realize his full potential. He needs to play better defensively, although the Lakers do not need him to be a lockdown defender. There were also major concerns about his conditioning.
While there are concerns surrounding Doncic, he's still one of the best players in the NBA. With him on the roster, Los Angeles is going to be a contender.
Pelinka will have an offseason to build a better roster around Doncic. LeBron James will likely be back as well next season. There are a lot of reasons to be highly optimistic about the Lakers heading into the 2025-26 season.
For more on the Los Angeles Lakers and general NBA news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
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