The Los Angeles Lakers have put their full trust in Luka Doncic as the face of the franchise. General Manager Rob Pelinka confirmed that Doncic was strongly involved into the decisions he made to build a team around the All-NBA superstar. Moves like adding center Walker Kessler and extending Austin Reaves to a long-term contract was done with Luka’s endorsement for each move.
Pelinka revealed the following when asked about talking to Doncic about offseason moves:
“When you can co-create something that’s powerful with a star like Luka and retrofit a team around him, then there is buy-in… to get the input of a basketball savant like him who sees the game at such a high level. Luka is the world’s greatest offensive player.”
Pelinka revealed that he considered Luka a co-creator and tried to rebuild the entire team around him. Losing LeBron James and Rui Hachimura are considered huge negatives due to their previous contributions in recent years. However, Pelinka felt it was worth the risks to build a team that fits better around Doncic. Many of the moves were done to replicate what the Dallas Mavericks did when they made the NBA Finals with Luka as the top star.
Luka Doncic Risking Lakers Fans Love
Any player getting involved in the decision making of the franchise is risking getting fan backlash if they fail. The Lakers have been criticized by many pundits for believing in talents like Kessler, Quentin Grimes, and Collin Sexton making up for what the lost players from last season provided.
Pelinka and Doncic also put together a roster that only works when Luka is putting up MVP numbers. The Lakers are relying on Doncic to be arguably the best player in the league and Reaves to reach All-Star level. Head coach JJ Redick will try to figure out the right lineups with the other players around them.
One huge issue is that the Western Conference is full of teams hoping to contend for an NBA Championship. The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are both forecasted to win 60 games and dominate. Luka could get blame if the Lakers fall short of contending and get eliminated early during his tenure.
Why Lakers Trust Luka Doncic To Win
The Lakers have a strong history of iconic greats leading them to NBA Championships. LeBron, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Magic Johnson, and Kobe Bryant are just some of the icons with top five arguments to win a title with the Lakers.
Doncic joins a long list of icons to play for the franchise, and most of them won it all for Los Angeles. History shows that Luka should do the same if the franchise puts enough talent around him.
Rumors indicated that Doncic strongly wanted a top defensive center to warrant the Lakers trading for Kessler from the Utah Jazz. Other moves saw the Lakers getting younger and wanting to prioritize the future. However, the pressure is on them to contend or risk getting trashed for the polarizing offseason moves.
Rob Pelinka Confirms Luka Doncic Influenced Offseason Moves