Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić an Early Season MVP Favorite? And Will LeBron James Ask Lakers for Trade?

Episode Date: August 27, 2025

One good way to measure how confident the NBA pundit class is in the Lakers is to look at offseason predictions around things like awards. And by that standard, the Lakers are doing ok. Luka Dončić finished second behind Nikola Jokic (who is pretty good!) in a preseason MVP handicapping, as judged by a panel of ESPN experts. For that to happen, first and foremost Luka needs to put up big numbers, something similar to what he did in Dallas a couple seasons ago. And second, the Lakers have to be very, very competitive. If they're middling around the Western Conference, struggling to stay relevant in the playoff race, Luka isn't sniffing an MVP. As for the first part of that, Skinny Luka looks like he's primed to perform. As for the second? As we've discussed on the show, the Lakers won 50 games last year. They're better than the version that finished the season, post trade. So assuming the right folks stay out of street clothes, they should be good enough this year to keep Luka in the conversation. Meanwhile, the Lakers (not surprisingly) were a popular vote for "Team Turmoil." In related news, LeBron James was third among players in the "Next Superstar to Request a Trade..." category. Obviously those things are related. But here's the thing... the circumstances for the Lakers to be "Team Turmoil" are hard to fathom (for reasons we explain) and if things don't go to pot (which, save injury, feel unlikely for reasons we explain) LeBron James IS NOT GOING TO ASK OUT. And, you guessed it, we explain why.  HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky SEGMENT 1: Luka is an early MVP fave.  SEGMENT 2: What has to happen for Luka to be in the race.  SEGMENT 3: Some people REALLY want LeBron to be LeDrama this year.  Listener SurveyWe’ve put together a survey to learn more about our listeners and make your favorite podcasts even better. Go tohttps://lockedonpodcasts.com/survey/ to get started. Everyone who completes a survey will be entered for a chance to win one of ten $100 Amazon gift cards.  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!OpenPhoneStreamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at www.openphone.com/lockedonnbaMonarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnba for 50% off your first yearGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everyone, welcome to Locked on Lakers for Wednesday. Brian Komenetsky, Andy Keminetsky, is Luca Donchich, an early favorite for MVP. We'll tell you next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Locked on Lakers. First listen to every day, Monday through Friday,

no matter how or where you get your podcast, Andy. this one is always going to be free for you. Locked on Lakers on YouTube. It's where you can go hang out with over 36,000 subscribers to the channel, all of whom we hope are leaving us mailbag questions because we put the call out once again for mailbag questions as we head into late August, early September. Perfect time to send us the questions you want to see addressed on the show.

So plenty of interesting. By the way, if you want to leave those mailbag questions, go to either the community section of the YouTube channel. That's where the posts are. Leave your question in the comments section. Or you could hit us up on Twitter at Cambrothers. You could also leave questions along with a five-star review in the Apple iTunes section. Or you could email us at Kamenetsky Brothers, gmail.com.

plenty of different ways if you want to be part of the show and we really want you to be. We are reachable. So plenty of things to discuss in the context of ESPN's annual summer predictions. They do this every year and they are out both team predictions and player predictions. And Andy, it starts the headliner here is the MVP. And who exactly are the early favorite? favorites for MVP. The first name is one I think people will not be surprised at.

Nikola Yokic, who is good. But right behind him, Andy, ahead of Shea Gilgis, Alexandria, your reigning MVP is our very own skinny Luca Donchich. He is favored, I guess, by ESPN folks, to be second in the MVP this year, which means at the very least, people are expecting a very, very big season from Luca, one that probably looks a little bit more like the numbers he put up two years ago as to last year. A bunch of different NBA pundits from ESPN were asked to weigh in on this and some of them wrote, I guess their summary of why they think the voting for each category

went in particular way from Ramona Shelburne, our friend over at ESPN, quote, either voter fatigue wears off quickly or voters were very impressed by Nikola Yokic's head-to-head battle with Shea Gilli, Gilles, Alexander, the second round of 2025 playoffs. The three-time MVP came in as a heavy favorite to win for a fourth time in our preseason survey, almost doubling the votes for SGA to repeat. Voters also seemed impressed by Luca Donchich's off-season transformation as the Svelte version of the Los Angeles-Legers Point Guard came in second in early voting. Team success always plays a factor in voting, which is probably why SGA has slipped to third.

In other words, he already elevated the thunder to a championship and was recognized as the MVP for doing that. But what if there's even another level for him and the youngest championship team in decades to reach? I would definitely, if you're pricing in success as part of your MVP criteria, even though it is always hard to repeat, I would definitely not hold that against the thunder heading into things because I think they're going to be really good again. I am excited. I mean, you look at like what he's done and I realize, you know, offseason international basketball is not a perfect proxy for, you know, for, you know, what's going to happen this year in the NBA. And I understand Luca's outside shot isn't, you know, isn't falling and all that kind of stuff. but when you look at sort of the explosiveness,

and you know, you see the clips and you watch the games and you see the highlights and the analysis of people who are in the building, watching him play, watching him practice, like he has, he is moving better.

He is not, we're not talking about above the rim, Luca, high flying Luca. I don't think anybody expects that sort of like the guy who came into the NBA is a rookie. Almost a third of, of his career dunks came in during that rookie year.

He has yet to dunk as a Laker. Yep. I'm calling it now at least one dunk. It's just like I look at this and like you see just a half, a quarter step better on the perimeter means getting a guy on your hip versus getting a guy, you know, in front of you and settling for like a mid-range jumper. And yes, like it's easier to do that against Great Britain. than it is, I don't know, the Grizzlies.

But at the same time, he doesn't have LeBron James next to him and Austin Reeves and some, you know, Rui Hachamora, Marcus Smart. Like, he's going to be playing with a better cast of characters that will garner more respect. To say the least, Andy, in these warm-up games, folks are tilting their defensive orientation towards Luca Donchich. I did forget to remind people, Andy, that today's episode is brought to you by Monarch money, take control of your finances with monarch money, use the code locked on NBA at

monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. But again, I go back to it. It's not just, for Luke to finish second in the MVP, he's going to have to not only put up the types of numbers 33, 8, 9 and 8, or whatever he did a couple years ago, the Lakers are going to have to win 50 games or so. Like if the Lakers win 45, 44, 42, and Luke, puts up those numbers. He's not finishing second in the MVP. Unlikely. I mean, it's not impossible. We've seen the exceptions to the rule, like when Russell Westbrook averaged a triple double, I believe the Thunder were a six seed that year, and he ended up winning MVP. And Russ really was, in his own right, one of the

stories of the league, especially, I believe that was the first season in OKC post-KD. But for the most part, you are correct. Like there is a, you know, you must be this tall to ride the ride type standard for MVP voting. And a lot of that beyond the numbers is also the team success. It was interesting. And we'll get into some of these other ESPN voting criteria. But on Tuesday afternoon, I, along with DeMarco Farr, hosted a show for 710 ESPN at Pichanga Resort Casino as part of the Lakers golf tournament that they were having for the Lakers Youth Foundation. And as is always the case, they bring in a bunch of form.

Lakers who play in this tournament. Also, by the way, Brony played in the tournament. I didn't get a chance to talk to Brony, but heard from more than a few people, Bronny's golf game is actually pretty good. And for the time being, maybe the one thing better than the old man's. But, you know, because LeBron is famously taking up golf this summer. He was live tweeting tournaments this weekend. Oh, yeah.

He's apparently a big Fleetwood fan. LeBron, he's taking a shine to Fleetwood. Tommy Fleetwood. From what I understand, brawny actually is the superior golfer. But anyway, a few of the people that were put in front of, DeMarco and I included Michael Cooper, Sasha Vuechich, Byron Scott, Robert Orie.

And a couple of things came up. First of all, Sasha, I thought this was really interesting. He was talking about Luca and some commonalities that he sees between Luca and Kobe, who Sasha played with for years, part of the 2009-2010 championships, quote, not to diss Dallas, but Luca's lights and capabilities were way too big for Dallas, that spotlight. I think Luca is the perfect guy that we need in LA to carry us to the next championship. And I said it a long time ago.

When I watch him play, there are glimpses that I see from Kobe in his eyes. He plays with a smile, but he wants to kill you. And that's what it is. There was a saying in our locker room, when you smell blood, you go at him, right? And I think Luca is one of those very few individuals in the league that has that demeanor and has that mindset and trying to go to the next level. And that is part of, I think, that MVP picture. It's very difficult to think of an MVP that doesn't have that killer in them, but also, too, that instinct to, you know, suss out weakness and go right at you. And Luca really is like Kobe, like make it clear.

It's not at Kobe's level. I think both in terms of overall talent and certainly not success. But if you're talking about dudes who are wired sickly competitive and also really do take pleasure in destroying opponents, Luca actually is a lot like Kobe. Again, tons of other ground to make up. If you want to make that comparison. I don't know right.

We're obviously not saying that Luca has accomplished what Kobe has. Trust me, it needs to be clarified. I don't care about the argument about who's the better player. But I do think, and I will tell you where I don't necessarily agree or disagree with Sasha's comments, but the important place where I think he's dead on correct, I'll tell you next. Lockdown Lakers is brought to you by Monarch Money. Most people can't name all of their financial accounts, or even what they're worth, whether 401Ks, properties, or investments, side note, the hell is wrong with you, people.

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wants to hear from you. We have put together a survey to learn more about what our listeners and viewers want and make your favorite podcasts even favoritier. This is your chance to tell us what you like, what you don't like, answer questions about our advertising and much more. so go to locked on podcast.com slash survey to get started. We know sometimes, you know, these things are not necessarily tons of fun to do. So incentive.

Everyone who completes a survey will be entered for a chance to win one of $10, $100 Amazon gift cards. Again, locked on podcast.com slash survey. You can find the link in the show notes as well. Get yourself a chance to win one of them, $100 gift cards. Thank you very much for helping us make the product. better. Here's the part where I think Sasha may be right, he may be wrong, and I don't really care. I don't know if Luca was too big for Dallas. I don't know. I'm not sure what that means.

Well, Nico sure said he was too big for Dallas. Boom! That was actually really funny. That was really funny. I like that. That was really good. Come on. I mean, it was bad. Go ahead. Do it. Andy? Go ahead. Give yourself one of those. That was well done. To be clear, I think Nico was wrong. I'm just saying it is what Nico thought. So does Dallas, like the city.

But yeah, no, we'll pause and acknowledge what you just did because it was good work. So he didn't want to leave. It wasn't one of these situations where he was clearly, you know, feeling the constraints of small town Texas life and needed to get like he wasn't going anywhere. He had a whole tour planned where he was going to sign an extension over the summer. He started building a second house in Dallas.

Just in case his first one got dirty. So like he I don't know if Dallas was too big for him. I don't care. What I do think Sasha is exactly right about though. It is highly relevant for us here in in Los Angeles is that LA and specifically the spotlight of the Lakers is definitely not too big for him

because it doesn't matter if it was too big, too small in the old place. What matters is, is he well suited for what it is to be a Laker? And I'm not talking about the, you know, understanding the championships and the, you know, the,

what did it mean the heritage? I just mean like, it comes with an incredible amount of scrutiny, an enormous amount of pressure. And you have to love that. You have to thrive in it as opposed to being someone who can be beaten down by it periodically. And I think while generally speaking, for example, they overcame it. Players like Pao Gasol, players like Anthony Davis had moments where the L.A. of it all, so to speak, you could tell was harder for them than it was for Kobe, for LeBron, for whatever.

I think it's going to be with Luca. And if you're going to go all in for the next decade on a player you want first and foremost, take care of your body, all the skills, that, great. Secondly, though, he's got to be built for it. And Luca is 100% built for it. It's funny also, too, when you mentioned the idea of taking care of your body and all the amounts of dedication, like in all facets that come with being the face of the Lakers, but also winning MVP, taking your team to the finals, winning a championship.

Michael Cooper, one of the guys that stopped by, said to me and DeMarco, quote, the fact that Luca has taken the commitment to get in the best shape he's been in, that tells you something right there. But then he noted how with the Lakers, it's not just about competing or the regular season, it's about winning championships. And then it was interesting. DeMarco asked Byron Scott what he thinks it takes to. be an MVP, like his criteria for being an MVP. And Byron said, quote, you got to lead your team

to a championship or somewhere near it. That's number one. Number two, you got to make the players around you better. It's as simple as that. And for me, number three, you got to be a player that's great on both ends of the floor. But then I thought this was interesting and smart from Byron. You don't have to be a great individual defender. But if you're not a great individual defender, then you've got to be a great team defender. And that second, that third effort on the defensive end is what really matters. Magic wasn't a great one-on-one defender. But, man, you talk about a great team defender, one of the best you'll ever see.

And his IQ made him that. He knew where to be and when to be there. Everybody looks at scoring and all that stuff, Byron went on to say, there's a lot of guys in this league that can score. But if you can make your teammates better and you can win games and also make your teammates better in the defensive end, to me, that's the criteria. And I thought the part that Byron brought up, A, about just defense. And, you know, Robert Ory, we were talking with him later.

And DeMarco had asked him if you thought Luca could ever be a top five player. I'll read the quote later. But in a nutshell, he said no, because like top five of all time, to be clear, not top five in the league, top five all time. But Robert Ory said the defense is what ultimately for him keeps Luca out of that conversation in all likelihood beyond the fact that it's just really damn hard. hard. But I thought the part that Byron brought up about being a great team defender and, you know, that if you're not a great individual defender one on one, and I think there's probably I think both of us think Luca is sometimes better at that than his rep, but it's never going to be his calling card. But Luca absolutely has it in him and frankly needs to find it on a regular

basis of being a great team defender. And I thought the comp to Magic was great, A, in the sense that Magic overcame the individual defensive weaknesses to contribute in a different way, but also too, as Byron said, the IQ. And Luca is one of those guys who is at least on Magic's level with basketball IQ and anticipation and things like that. Like even somebody like DeAngelo Russell, I think was at times. a better team defender than he got credit. And I think the reason that he was okay at it is because as a point guard and somebody who I think read the floor pretty well, I think Dilo could sometimes

just anticipate certain things that can happen. Lucas better at that stuff than Dilo and is also just he's, I think a better defender than Dilo anyway. He is. And he's, you know, the size helps. He's a little stronger and all that kind of stuff. But the biggest thing, you know, and we were as supportive of DeAngelo Russell as as anyone. But like, you know, we all love our children, but we are certainly aware of their flaws,

even as they grow up. You know, Dilo had a problem with give a bleep consistently or being plugged in consistently. And engaging, like so much of what you're talking about in terms of really being a smart team defender is just being engaged for every second of

every possession you're on the floor. Like Rui, the biggest difference between Rui last season and Rui say the two seasons before that is there just fewer possessions where Rui would sort of briefly check out or seem to lose focus or not look at the right thing or whatever. He stayed engaged. He's not a good defender, but he was a much better team defender last year just because the engagement level went up. And Luca, when he's, if you leave him in situations where he's going to be out on an island and you allow people to hunt him and that's going to happen.

It's going to happen over the course of the season. Offenses are too good and too smart. But if you can construct enough of a defense around it to minimize those things or at least make it harder for teams to where they spend, you know, 17 seconds or 18 seconds of the shot clock trying to pick on. Luca, okay, well, maybe you end up with a good shot at the end, but maybe you don't. And so I think that's what goes on. But if Luca is engaged for all 24 of those seconds, especially in those moments where teams can't find ways to pick on him, he is good at stepping in front of the path, anticipating where the ball is going, all that stuff, because he sees stuff better than anybody on your

team. I mean, he knows what you're doing. So that part, I think is a great insight, 100% agree. And one of the only guys in the league, actually, who can read what is about to happen as well as Luca is actually his teammate, LeBron, who also directly or indirectly comes up in a few of these ESPN NBA punditry. Why am I excited people watching on YouTube? Because this is how you know we've been working together for a long time. Because when I said that stuff, I was hoping and setting you up for this very say. into the next segment. That's good work.

You're really on fire tonight, Andy. We're going to talk about that coming up next. So there were three other categories among the ESPN polls. Team turmoil, like in other words, the team that is going to encounter the most turmoil in the 25-26 season, the player most likely to make a trade request, and also the team most likely to make a move, like a move of significance at some point in the season. team turmoil. Lakers.

Barely, barely behind the Milwaukee box who came in in the number one spot, 41 points. The Lakers 32 points in number two, barely. God, this is almost terrifying, even though I'm not particularly worried about them being correct. The fact that they just barely beat the Sons who are in a tie with the Celtics, who I don't understand how the Celtics could have. I don't know. What's turmoil-y about the Celtics? They've already done all their stuff. They're going to play the season and rebrands.

build in the off season. Right. I don't understand where the turmoil actually comes, but just the idea that anybody would think that the Lakers are on the turmoil scale of the Suns, that feels like a reach to me. Player most likely to make a trade request. Zion, 10 votes, Janus, seven votes. And then coming in at number three, LeBron James at six votes, I have a feeling that for a lot of the voters, team turmoil and team most likely.

to, a player most likely to request a trade. Those are connected things. And then perhaps the Lakers coming in second for a team most likely to make a move behind Golden State. Maybe that's connected to LeBron. Maybe not. Who knows? But either way, these things all feel tangentially connected to LeBron.

I think, Brian, you will agree with me when I say, I think all three of these. other than maybe just the Lakers making a move because I think it is reasonably high the likelihood of them making a trade at some point in the season. I think these fears are very overstated. Look, I mean, ESPN has been very good to us over the course of our professional careers.

I am not trying to rip on ESPN. Team turmoil, if it was, you know, an actual NBA award would be named the Los Angeles Lakers Award. The Lakers are always put in team turmoil. because if anything happens, it's turmoil. Like, you know, like there's just so much scrutiny. It goes back to what we were talking about in the first segment with Luca.

There's just so much scrutiny on this team that if anything happens, turmoil. We've got turmoil. Like, but the reality of it is, we cover this a little bit, I think, for Tuesday's show or Monday, I forget. But like, if the only way in my mind that LeBron demands a trade during the season, is if the Laker, you know, Luca, and I'm not even going to say, it's going to be like Voldemort, I'm not going to even complete that sense. You know what I'm thinking. And just like the Lakers aren't winning enough games. You know, too many guys are in street clothes and they're not winning enough games. It's clear they're not going to make the playoffs, something like that. And LeBron is like,

you know what? I don't have a lot of seasons left. I'd like to be in, I like to be playing meaningful basketball this spring trade me. Even that, I'm not sure it would be a done deal. But that, is the only scenario. That's not turmoil. That's well, that sucks. That's unfortunate. This season really has been disappointing. Turmoyal is

to me, team's going well. But LeBron's not in this scenario, like LeBron's not getting the love that he wants or something like that. It's too much Lucas team and like LeBron wants out. It's Castle

Palace intrigue. And like guys stabbing each other in the back. And like JJ Redick sleeps with one eye open because you don't know what, you know, Rui Hachamura is going to do because he's upset about his role in the rotation. And yes, Elmo, fire. Yeah, that's, that's turmoil. That's much different than, season's not going in the way we wanted because three or four things that you just can't predict happen.

LeBron's not, unless that scenario, the turmoil scenario where LeBron asks out is not going to happen. It is not. I would be very surprised. I mean, the fact that Luca is on this team at all should at least remind us that you can never predict everything that's going to happen because they can say it's safe to say nobody saw that coming, including Luca, Anthony Davis, like everybody.

There are apparently two people who saw it coming. Right. It was. It was. Three, I guess, if you found Jeannie. Right. Very, very few people. But the idea that LeBron would be so put off with the idea that this now officially being Luca's team, that he would basically either half-asset or refuse to buy in to the point where it creates so much tension that it culminates in some type of trade demand.

demand. Again, never say never because you and I have covered the league for a long time. We've covered this team in particular for a long time, like some people talking about their experiences in war. We've seen some bleep. But I do think it is, it is pretty unlikely that if things are going well, if they are winning games, but LeBron would still allow dissatisfaction with his sort of grander place in the scheme of this team to allow him. Whatever. Whatever. I want to leave a team that's winning.

I just, that would be stunning to me. It would be stunning. That's before you get to the question of, what the hell are they going to send him? Well, like, that's, I'm not even getting into that.

Or the question of the enormous risk that they're taking by making a very big trade demand without some sort of destination in mind with those two things are related. I'm setting all of those things aside. I think that piece of it, though, is difficult to set aside because the run is not going to publicly demand a trade without a place to go because he does not want to make that move and then still end up with the Lakers. Absolutely not.

But I'm saying is those two things are steps two and three of three or four or five-part process that I don't even think you're ever going to get to because I don't accept the premise of step one. And step one is not enough to get it done. So like it is, LeBron's not going to be traded unless the season falls apart in. quite frankly, relatively amicable but unfortunate ways for the Lakers. I just, I look at this and I, I see Luke, you know, the places where I see the Lakers showing up in ways that are negative, I just don't buy. And I am encouraged by, you know, the idea that the Lakers have a genuine MVP candidate, you know, in the best shape of his career,

or certainly his recent career, with a guy who, you know, we'll save this maybe for another show, but, you know, Jason Tim, you know, a friend of the show, had a great segment. I think I retweeted it where he talked about LeBron. And, you know, the fears and concerns over his basketball mortality

are well-founded just because of the context. But at the same time, he's a top 10 guy who has played more games with more productivity than about 90% of the stars in the NBA that we don't talk about in the same context as LeBron. So, like, the last couple seasons at least, he's been quite durable and quite productive. If you get that again, combined with a better group, a 50-win team is better than they were at the end of last season. That is enough, Andy, to make me excited about what we're going to see this fall. Absolutely. I mean, there is always going to be an anticipation and even an expectation of drama with the Lakers because by definition, the Lakers are just a dramatic team.

Like, that's just who they are. It's in their DNA to some degree. It's actually what they want. They don't like to be a low-key team in the league, but the idea of this sort of drama that manifests in turmoil, I don't see the immediate ingredients for it. Again, not saying it can't happen, but I don't see enough there sort of on the immediate horizon

that feels like second place in team turmoil only four points ahead of the Phoenix Suns. Oh, my God. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 36,000 subscribers to the channel. Again, leave us questions, leave us comments. Contribute to the mailbag. And you could hear your name said aloud on a very, very well-received podcast. We will see everyone tomorrow.