Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Greg St. Jean believes that Luka Doncic and LeBron James spending time together before the season starts will have a positive effect on the whole team.
Even though the Los Angeles Lakers landed Luka Doncic, thanks to the trade in February, the season ended pretty early for the Purple and Gold.
As the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, the Lakers lost against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1st round.
Nevertheless, not many believed that the Lakers would contend that quickly after such a big squad overhaul.
Building on last season's major roster shifts, the Lakers aimed to strengthen their lineup further in the summer, bringing in players like Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, and Jake LaRavia to bolster their championship hopes.
Lakers Coach Talks About the New Signings
The Lakers assistant coach Greg St. Jean believes all the new signings will add much-needed help and versatility.
"We're excited about all of our new additions," St. Jean told BasketNews. "Our team is still improving. And the goal for us is obviously to have great depth and be able to have a lot of versatility."
"I think we've done that. We've had a lot of versatile players who have played in a lot of big playoff moments. And then we've added some young players who are hungry and excited.
"So it's more about a collection of players as opposed to any individual additions. But we've done a great job and we're excited about our new guys," he added.
How the Lakers Will Play Next Season?
Before the Luka trade took place, the Lakers were building their game around defence, thanks to Anthony Davis.
However, with Davis gone and Doncic coming in, the game style naturally shifted towards the offense.
So, what kind of game style could the Lakers fans expect in the upcoming season?
"Our team last year, I thought we had a pretty good start. We did a good job with our defence, and we'll continue to build that this year. We had to evolve and make some changes as the season went on, as the personnel changed," St. Jean observed.
Credit Getty Images via AFP - Scanpix
Full Preseason with Luka Doncic Gives Lakers Optimism
That being said, differently than it was last year, Doncic will have the full pre-season and training camp with the Lakers, which brings optimism to St. Jean.
"The idea of Luka having an opportunity to play in training camp with us is going to be critical, and getting this team to build their chemistry and work together. This season, we're poised and excited to have a training camp together," St. Jean told BasketNews.
"LeBron and Luka being able to spend more time together, we think, will be really positive for both of them and obviously our team," he concluded.
Edvinas Jablonskis
Edvinas Jablonskis began his basketball coverage career in 2017. Starting as a Daily Writer for BasketNews.lt, he steadily climbed the ranks and became a Daily Editor for BasketNews.com in 2021, a position he continues to hold. Over the years, Jablonskis has covered multiple EuroLeague Final Fours and international tournaments, including the FIBA EuroBasket, FIBA Basketball World Cup, and FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
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