Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Will Luka Doncic and LeBron James be a Winning Combination for the Lakers?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey everyone, welcome to Locked-on Lakers for Monday. Brian Komenetsky, Andy Komeneski, the Luca Donchich for Anthony Davis trade is official. What's it going to look like when Luca finally suits up? That's next. You are Locked-on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcasts network. Your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:29 Thanks to everybody for making Lockdown Lakers. First listen to every day, Monday through Friday, sometimes on weekends. blockbuster deals happen, stuff like that. This is always free. It is never behind a paywall. It is a, thanks for everybody for making Locked on Lakers. First listen to every day, Monday through Friday,

Starting point is 00:00:46 no matter how or where you get your podcast, this one's always going to be free, never behind a paywall. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where over 28,000, thank you to all of you who have joined, particularly our new friends who are Mavericks watchers and specifically Luca watchers. Welcome to Locked-on Lakers. We are excited to have you,

Starting point is 00:01:07 but pushed our subscriber count over 28,000 in a day. So I'm assuming, you know, we're talking to you guys. Zedravo, Slovenia, Zedravo. Yes, we will work on our language skills, our pronunciation, please keep us honest. But it's cool to have everybody here. And we're excited to start a brand new chapter of Lakers basketball built around a very different set of stars and the ones the Lakers just had.

Starting point is 00:01:37 So before we get too deep into it today, I want to let people know that today's episode is brought to you by GameTime, download the GameTime app, create an account, use the code locked on eBay for $20 off your first purchase. So, Andy, I wouldn't say it's fully sunk in yet. I wouldn't say the dustboard pedal yet. I will say this. in Dallas, I think the questions are a lot deeper than they are in L.A.

Starting point is 00:02:05 The why did this happen? What is happening here? In L.A., it's pretty simple. It is the Lakers had a chance to acquire their next generational superstar. They could do it at a, quite frankly, no disrespect to Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and whoever they drafted with that pick, a reasonable cost to do so. And the Lakers took that opportunity. and that's pretty much it.

Starting point is 00:02:32 It's either you believe that Luca Donchich is worth building around or you don't. I don't see how the Lakers personally say no to this deal, particularly given what they had to give up in order to get Luca. There are risks with Luca, just like frankly, there are risks to any deal you will ever make, even something as big of a no-brainer when the Lakers acquired Powell Gasol. if you were in the middle of that and we were, we were covering that team on a day and day out basis,

Starting point is 00:03:03 there were perceived risks involved with that in terms of power at times having injury history, him being seen as a player that couldn't be built around in Memphis because of a series of first round sweeps out of the playoffs. The contract he had was considered at the time long at the very least. And that was Powell Gasol being up to the playoff. for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenden, and Mark Gassall, who at the time was known as Pau's Chubby Brother.

Starting point is 00:03:36 You know, I mean, like, and the point being, you can find risks with everything we did as a bonus show, a look at Luca from the Mavericks perspective with Nick Engstatt from Locked on Mabs. You can find that show as well on YouTube or on audio, but we're going to get into all of the particulars, but at the end of the day, damn near every single team in the league, when posed with the question, do you want Luca Donchich, the first reaction is going to be, are you serious? And then the second question is going to be, tell me how we make this happen.

Starting point is 00:04:15 Like, there are very few teams around the league that you can even picture entertaining, seriously entertaining the idea of declining this. As many star-effer jokes as we make about this organization, and they're not even jokes, they're accurate. And it feels like the joke that writes itself that, you know, the Lakers end up pivoting towards Luca Donchich. The truth is this is what every organization dreams of. And there is, I mean, why is this star-centric, you know,

Starting point is 00:04:50 think it can be problematic in terms of how you construct a roster. And, you know, particularly in the new. new CBA. Like, no one wants to be the guy who has to sign Joel M.B. At the stage of the career, of his career that the Sixers did. Or Paul George, like the risk to these guys is so much. Luke is 25. And sometimes, like, you rebuild and draft and all these things with your fingers crossed

Starting point is 00:05:19 and, like, praying that you luck into the year where a guy like Donchich or Shea or, you know, he was a second rounder, obviously, but Yokic, or some kind of talent like that is available to you when you can take them. And teams get lost in the wilderness for years because they can get good players, not great players, because they can get, you know, they get, they miss on the one pick they got, you know, for whatever, guys get hurt, whatever it might be. The Lakers had a chance to completely reshape their posts. LeBron James, you know, character, you know, what they look like.

Starting point is 00:06:02 And I had to take it. And, oh, by the way, it's not like they dismantled the team in the process. They created some holes. They also acquired Luca Donchich. So it's not like they just tore it down. And so I think Yokic, Wembe, Shea, I think those are the three guys you could look at and say, if we offered you Luca around the league, you get a whole. hard no. I don't think, I'm not even, I mean, I think Milwaukee would at least, you know,

Starting point is 00:06:31 look around the room, be like, they're offering us Luca for Janus. Like, oh, if you're Milwaukee, here's why you say yes, because you're really concerned Janus is going to leave anyway. You've been petrified of it for like the last five or so. Whatever the reasoning is. Like, you, I'm not sure. I'm just saying, I think I wouldn't. I don't know if they'd be confident. Luca would stay either, but you have that conversation. So there are like three hard nose around the league. This to me is one of these things where the risk is understandable.

Starting point is 00:07:02 Nick, when we talk to him, laid it out. Like, yes, Luca, the fitness thing is a question. The conditioning is a question. Over the long term, it is going to need to get better. You know, he complains about the refs too much in that sense he'll fit right in.

Starting point is 00:07:17 I mean, you got. But like, I'm going to say something that is going to, you know, the shot selections sometimes can be frustrating with Luca. And like, okay, I'm going to say something that's going to annoy Lakers fans potentially. A lot of these criticisms sound like exactly the stuff we talked about with Kobe. And I am not calling Luca Kobe.

Starting point is 00:07:41 I am not. But the shot selection. So it's clear. We're saying Kobe was better. Just so it is 100% clear. I'm not putting Luca on the level of Kobe. But that's why we're not saying it. Just so nobody misconduct.

Starting point is 00:07:55 understands it, Kobe was better. And Luca fans who are joining us for the first time, please understand, this is where we work. The last thing I'll say about this, and we'll get to sort of how this fits and what's next, is our friend Max Callernery, who used to work with at 710 ESPN, would say something. One of the smartest things I think I've heard guys in our business say, which is it would always be, you know, I'm paraphrasing, like it would be great if, you know, the greatest players were even greater.

Starting point is 00:08:22 you know, Kobe was even more, you know, special than he was, or Luca was even more special than he was. But, okay, what you have in these guys. And Nick backed us back this up is, yes, the guy is flawed, but he is a transcendent player in the NBA, one of the two or three or four most talented players that every GM would want, who is not yet in what you would come. consider fully in his prime.

Starting point is 00:08:54 You do that deal a thousand times out of a thousand. Yeah, absolutely. All right. So what does it mean, though, for the team currently and down the road, specifically for Luca and LeBron James, the new star pairing for the Lakers? It's exciting, but there could be some bumps in the road. Get to it next. Lockdown Lakers is brought to you by Game Time.

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Starting point is 00:10:42 I think most reports seem to say at the very latest he'll be able to play for the Lakers right after the All-Star break. It starts to put into question like, okay, what does this team look like now? The general consensus is. Tell me if you disagree, Andy, though. But the general consensus is that in the short term, the Lakers may have hurt themselves. They certainly traded away a massive junk of a shaky defense. But over the long term, the clarity this provides them is great.

Starting point is 00:11:16 They are still, though, but nine games over 500, they are still well into the top six in the Western Conference and have a lot to play for this season. So when you look at the roster as it's constructed now with some time left before the trade deadline, where do you think they are? How much worse do you think they are if that's the conventional wisdom? Before I even get into the idea of where they stand right now, I just wanted to add one more thing when you talked about that clarity,

Starting point is 00:11:48 because over the last couple weeks, everydayers will know that I've been hammering the idea of the Lakers needed to, pick a lane. Like they needed to either fully commit to the LeBron and AD era, roll the dice on it, and you just live with your choices, or they needed to begin the process of moving past this era, like in a proactive way. And in some respects, I said this many times. I don't even care what lane you choose. You just need to choose a lane because half measures were pointless. And like the rest of the world, I did not see this path, this lane being chosen, this particular one, but it was a lane. And they are starting the process. Pretty good one. Right. Yes. I mean, it's a very clear lane. And it is a lane that still

Starting point is 00:12:44 includes LeBron James, at least for the next foreseeably a couple of years, Dave McMenneman, reported that at least for the time being this trade that LeBron was by multiple accounts, not in the loop for, for that matter, neither was Anthony Davis nor Luca Donchich. That is not upsetting to LeBron, both the idea of not being in the loop, but also he and Anthony Davis were very tight, that this is not going to lead to LeBron requesting a trade between now and the deadline that he wants to be here. So that path still includes LeBron, but what the future will offer is clear now, at least in terms of what it's going to be built around. My concern, had been that the Lakers would basically passively tread water without committing in either in any

Starting point is 00:13:33 discernible direction because they wanted to hang on to their asset for Superstar X, whoever that is, who will just somehow magically appear. And I realize there's an irony given that by all accounts, this was Nico Harrison kind of dropping a star in the Lakers lap. But, But nonetheless, they acted decisively. So I am happy to see the Lakers do that. Even if you want to say they got nudge to some degree and got lucky about the nudge, fine. It doesn't matter. And what you're talking about here is essentially the subject of the newsletter.

Starting point is 00:14:13 You can sign up for Lockdown Lakers newsletter. You go to Lockedon Daily.com. Click on Lockdown Lakers, have a show delivered to you every day. But the basic idea here now is every roster decision that they make is made with the idea of what does this do for our Luca-centric future? Yes. Now, you while LeBron, you still want to maximize the pairing of LeBron and Luca because that's what you've got. And you want it, like, it's potentially quite good. but long-term choices are going to be made with the idea of how does this impact what we're going to try to build around Luca,

Starting point is 00:14:56 not how does it impact what we're going to try to build around or LeBron? And when they were doing this before, you know, two days ago, the question was, okay, well, how is this going to be good for a post-Lebron future built around Anthony Davis? And when AD is 32 or 33, that's a lot harder to plan for than a 25-10. He's 27-year-old Luca. Right. And it's very little runway. Like, you know, one of the things that led me to keep saying, like, you have to pick a lane now. It's because the more you kind of passively do the easy thing, before you know it, it's not even about the idea of did you maximize your time with LeBron.

Starting point is 00:15:36 It's Anthony Davis's prime is going to be done. And, I mean, I'm not going to say that a championship is nothing to show for it because it clearly is. championships are hard to win, but you won't be able to look in the mirror and say, did we really do the most that we can with these guys? And I was happy to see that. As far as like the on-court pairing and stuff, I think it's going to take a minute for the two of them to synergize and feel like they're not stepping on each other's toes. I wouldn't do the LeBron specifically LeBron and AD thing next year, but just when you look at the roster itself, because I think there's this, the more I've been thinking about it over the course of the day, you know, trade happens on Saturday evening, it, everybody's brains explode completely.

Starting point is 00:16:28 And you have to sit there and think about it. It's like, okay, well, where are the, what does this leave the Lakers now? And I think, at least in some circles, there is an overreaction to how much weak. the Lakers made themselves in this deal. I think they are overall in the aggregate weaker, both because it's a lot to drop Luca Dantzich into your team. They're probably, they may make more moves between now and the end of the deadline. It's going to be a lot to put together.

Starting point is 00:17:00 For what it's worth, the expectate, you and I did a show for 710 ESPN on Sunday. There's a lot of talking with people around the league. And the general consensus is the Lakers are not done adding, or at least they're not done attempting to add pieces. You cannot guarantee you get something done, but they are going to be aggressive between Monday and Thursday as opposed to like letting,

Starting point is 00:17:27 just settling with this figuring out the rest in the offseason. So like exactly. And so when I look at that the answer to that question, the first thing I look at is the game on Saturday with the Knicks. The Lakers dismantled a very good Knicks team. They played, I mean, I don't think it was the Knicks best day, best day. I get that. But the Lakers played very well. Yes, they did. And the difference between...

Starting point is 00:17:49 We did a show all about it that nobody will ever see because nobody would have cared. The gist of it, Lakers played really well. Yeah, we were really excited. That, you know, the game before that, they annihilated a terrible wizard's team by like 60 or whatever it was. My point is, they did that without Anthony Davis on the floor. If you look at the difference between the team that played on Saturday and the team that is going to take the floor as currently constructed with the players that they have. You take away Max Christie,

Starting point is 00:18:22 who is a every dayers know people who listen to the Locked-on Mavs podcast, the crossover that we did with Nick, where we talked a lot about Christy. Both of us are huge Christie fans and things. He is a big part of why the Lakers were able to kind of get on a role at different points this year.

Starting point is 00:18:39 His growth this year has been fantastic. But you're taking, him off the floor and adding Luca Donchich in terms of personnel. It hurts you defensively. You don't have AD. You're short-s-hand. But you did add Luca-D- like, I think if you look at what that team did on Saturday and what they were capable of, taking Christy away and adding Luca Donchich to it,

Starting point is 00:19:03 it confuses things. But you're not automatically like some way lesser version of yourself. So I am more optimistic over the course of this. day really thinking about it, at least the potential that the Lakers aren't going to automatically suffer this huge drop off because of this trade. They got some work to do, and they're not going to be as good defensively. But I'm actually more optimistic than I was Sunday morning, even while I still like the trade. If that makes sense.

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Starting point is 00:20:56 So we'll get to this LeBron, Luca pairing. Again, we did get in this with some pretty good depth with Nick. Go back and listen to that episode, watch it on YouTube if you haven't. But your thoughts just generally on the kind of the proposition I'm putting out there, Andy, that, okay, lots to figure out. but just based on what we've seen over the last couple days playing without AD, their prospects for this year may not be as sort of dire as at least presented in some circles. I think that might be an overstatement because I'm not sure the way they played defensively against the Knicks without Anthony Davis or without Christie is sustainable moving Florida as a formula.

Starting point is 00:21:42 And I want to make it clear. I don't want to take anything away from how they played against New York on Saturday. Like, I don't think it was fluky. They executed to a T. But the idea of you have to execute to a T with a T with now a lesser defensive player in Luka, that becomes harder to try to do that over the remaining, what is it, like, 30-something games. Right. That is really difficult to do on a game-in, game out base.

Starting point is 00:22:13 basis when particularly your options for protecting the rim, moving forward, if the roster stayed as is, are really, really limited. I think the defensive ceiling would lower several notches if this team had to perform with this roster over the next, I mean, again, taking nothing away from how they played against the Knicks because they were phenomenal. Right. That's a tough ask. Fair. And like you said, I think, I think they are not as good. And I do think it's going to be hard for just to bring the whole thing together.

Starting point is 00:22:54 But the last time the Lakers made gigantic roster changes like this, they went to the Western Conference finals. So, you know, things are possible. But let's talk about the big, the big factor. But they did that just real, they did that while keeping LeBron and AD. They did. And they got and they removed Russell Westbrook. they did. Right, which that automatically made them better. Everything about that was better. But here, it's not a rebuilding trade. They did not

Starting point is 00:23:21 tear. They acquired a top five player in the league. And I just think that's important. How LeBron and AD, God, I keep doing that, how LeBron and Luca play together is going to be the driving force of how far the Lakers can go this season. How quickly. those two can adapt to each other and function at as high of a level as possible. On paper, you're talking about two basketball savants who see the floor better and differently than most any player who's ever played and all that stuff. They're also incredibly ball dominant. These pairings can be tricky.

Starting point is 00:24:09 How clunky do you think this one is going to be in these final? 30-something games of the season, however many they got to actually play together. Clunky, I think clunky is too negative a word, just to make that a jumping point, just because even though I think there is going to be a feeling out process, like even with, like, for example, LeBron's first season with Dwayne Wade, there was, you know, it's very well-reported fame, you know, we saw it in front of our own eyes. There was some bumping of heads, and, you know, LeBron, Wade, and Bosch famously tried to get Eric Spolster fired, and, you know, there was some your turn, my turn. They still went to the finals.

Starting point is 00:24:57 So I think all of this has to be kept in perspective. That being said, though, I do think it's going to be interesting to see just how they discover the balance and what allowances they make for each other. Because, like, for example, LeBron has averaged just under 20 shots per game for his career, like just under 20 with the Lakers specifically and per 36 minutes, he has the highest field goal per games of his careers actually with the Lakers as opposed to with Miami or with Cleveland. Luca, other than his rookie season, has averaged at least 20 shots per game. LeBron's other teammates, you know, Dwayne Wade, Kyrie, Anthony Davis, they never took

Starting point is 00:25:39 really on average, much less on a regular basis, the amount of of shots Luca does per game or frankly the amount of shots LeBron takes per game as much as we always talk every year with the Lakers. LeBron's getting older. You want to try to spread some of that around. And inevitably, LeBron ends up taking a lot of shots. It's just the way it works. He's LeBron. He's really damn good. Assists per game. Luca, other than his rookie season, has never averaged fewer than 7.8 per game. Most seasons eight or nine. LeBron is averaging nine this season. his highest average assist per game for any team is with the Lakers at about eight. So you're talking about two guys who typically do the most of those two things in generating

Starting point is 00:26:25 offense, period, no matter who they are teamed up with. I mean, frankly, they've both been teamed up with Kyrie Irving, and it's been the same both times. Doesn't mean it can't work. I want to make that clear. I'm not listing why this is destined to fail. I'm explaining why, even when you're talking about two incredibly savant-level offensive guys, two incredibly gifted players who, as much as they're heliocentric, you don't rack up the playmaking accolades they have without being willing to give up the ball.

Starting point is 00:27:00 I mean, LeBron honestly enjoys assists more than enjoys scoring. I don't even think it's close. This is going to be an interesting dance. to choreograph. And I'm really curious to see how you go about doing it. Yeah, because I think the easy part, especially really quick without somebody like AD, who at one point was at least supposed to be the focal point of it all.

Starting point is 00:27:26 Well, I mean, I think LeBron will, if LeBron was willing to concede that Anthony Davis is the best player on the team when AD was there, he ought to be able to concede that Luca's the better player at this point in his career, maybe not in every way, or like Luca is the more dominant force than LeBron is. To me, the easy part of the pairing is seeding the shots.

Starting point is 00:27:52 I don't think that's actually something that's going to bother LeBron too much, at least in the regular season. It might change a little bit in the playoffs when LeBron gets a little more aggressive or things like that, or the type of shots that he gets and whatever. But only one guy can hand out assistance

Starting point is 00:28:09 at a time, like, it's the control of the flow of a game that I think even, you know, LeBron loves the assists. Sometimes the controlling that leads to 30 points or whatever. Sometimes it's 16 assists or just, I think that's the part that LeBron loves the most. And giving some of that up is, I think, going to be the difficult part. And Luca is going to need to do a little bit of. of that as well. Initially, I wonder if you get one of these situations where they're both almost a little deferential to each other because LeBron, by all accounts and reports, has

Starting point is 00:28:51 tremendous respect for Luca. And Luca has, in a lot of ways, pattern what he does after LeBron. But over the long term, like that, I agree with you. It's that control aspect that's going to be the tough one to figure out. That's really what it is. Like, these guys, It's not even a matter of glory, even though, I mean, like all superstars in any, well, I was going to say all superstars in any sport, they want a certain amount of glory because they've earned it. They want a certain amount of credit because they've earned it, particularly in the NBA with rings culture, which is absolutely stupid. But this is the world that dictates how we talk about all of this stuff. And, you know, I said many times, for a lot of people, coach. Kobe had to win his fourth championship to win his first.

Starting point is 00:29:42 And it was absolutely stupid. And you and I used to stress that all the time in the moment. But Kobe had to show a lot of people, he had to validate himself by winning a championship without Shaq, as if he was some type of free rider for the first three. So, you know, but more than any of it, though, I think the control is the hardest thing to give up. because the accolades in a lot of ways,

Starting point is 00:30:08 they happen organically with success, but it's the idea of trusting somebody else to provide you the same level of success that I think can be difficult. Because you're still sort of, because you can say LeBron's declining athleticism, this, that, and whatever, and a lot of it is true, but his ability to orchestrate a game, get, go, if you missed it, go watch the replay

Starting point is 00:30:32 of that next game. He had it on a string. Like, in that, and he, he's still capable of doing it. I mean, you know, what makes this potentially beautiful other than the idea of LeBron James and Luca Donchitz running pick and rolls together? Who's the roller? Who's the, you know, the ball handler? It doesn't matter.

Starting point is 00:30:49 Like, that's terrifying. You add, you know, wrinkles with Austin Reeves in there with those. When those three guys are on the floor, there's a, as long as people are willing to share and defer and participate in the less glamorous stuff, like the potential for really cool basketball to happen, which I think exciting to all of those guys, is 100% there. You have two of the top, I'll just say top 10 passers in the league, two of the three best passers in the league at that size, you know, the only one who's in that group, I think, is Yokic.

Starting point is 00:31:29 Like, this to me is like the tremendous potential there to do great stuff. I don't want that to sort of get overshadowed in the idea of like, it could be kind of hard. Like, yes, but there's a lot of fun stuff that can happen here. JJ Reddick played with Luca, knows what he's getting. LeBron is no fool, knows what he's getting. And if LeBron wants to play another couple of years, this is the way to do it.

Starting point is 00:32:01 Like, you know what? Like, Luca is the guy who truly can let LeBron kind of cruise more through regular seasons more than anybody else they've tried to pair with it. Well, I'm glad you brought that up too because it's what you are correct about the idea of being able to take the foot off the gas, maybe a little bit easier with Luca as opposed to even someone as great as Anthony Davis. Like, just in terms of lessening specific asks. but I had a reaction to this thinking about it more that's kind of the opposite. Like as far as LeBron wanting to take foot off the gas less, as opposed to wanting to find ways to cruise more, injecting Luca into the mix now, if nothing else,

Starting point is 00:32:49 it adds something new for LeBron to gravitate towards. And it decreases an element of, I think, staleness that maybe had been there. Those two played together for six years. That's a long time. Now, this is definitely something new. You're right. This is something brand, you know,

Starting point is 00:33:11 people talked about brawny being something that could inject new life into LeBron at season 22, H40. And as much as I know LeBron really enjoys having Brony there, there's only so much that can do for LeBron game in, game out, because Brony doesn't play.

Starting point is 00:33:27 And that's not that's not really a thing. Luca being on this team, that's a real, tangible thing. And something that can make the regular season more exciting for LeBron, which, if we're all being honest, that's something LeBron fights. And I don't blame him for fighting it. But there's a trickle-down effect, not just for LeBron, but for the rest of the team, when you know the guy of LeBron's stature, is at times not really up for this, you know, between, I don't know, mid-December and mid-March. Like, you know, Luca will make this exciting in a way that's a brand new for LeBron.

Starting point is 00:34:15 That's a great point. And if it works and like you see these guys clicking, they become, as the kids might say, scary AF in the playoffs, you don't want to see that. But we'll get into more of this. Lakers don't play until tomorrow against the Clippers. I certainly want to talk a little bit about Anthony Davis and Max Christie, the guys who went out. Make sure we give them their due.

Starting point is 00:34:39 But man, just going to be wall-to-wall analysis before we finally get to see what this looks like. And obviously, trade deadline still coming. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 28,000 fans now. Subscribers to the channel. Make sure you sign up for the newsletter, locked ondaily.com. Click on Lockdown on Lakers. We'll see everyone tomorrow.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Will Luka Doncic and LeBron James be a Winning Combination for the Lakers?

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