Luka Doncic is already making magic, but the Lakers have bigger problems

Luka Doncic’s Lakers first impressions show a team that’s still deeply flawed

Luka Doncic had not played basketball since Christmas day when the stunning trade that sent him from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers was announced around midnight days before the 2025 NBA trade deadline. Doncic’s nagging injuries and lack of fitness were a central reason the Mavs were motivated to get rid of him, and he’s looked like a player coming back from a long absence in his first two games for Los Angeles.

Doncic suffered a left calf strain on Christmas day that kept him out more than six weeks and cost him a spot on the 2025 NBA All-Star Game roster. Doncic has a history of calf injuries, which Dallas feared could one day lead to a more devastating ACL injury.

Doncic has proven that even at half-speed, he can still make magic happen with the basketball in his hands. It’s just not going to save the Lakers this year with all the flaws on their roster.

The Lakers lost to the Jazz, 131-119, in Doncic’s second game with the club on Wednesday night. Doncic is playing on a minutes restriction, and ended the game with 16 points, four assists, and five fouls in 23 minutes.

Early in the first quarter, Doncic absolutely froze the Utah defense with this nifty fake and overhead pass to the corner for an open three to teammate Rui Hachimura. It’s the type of play that can’t be taught, and shows the intrinsic genius of Luka’s game. Watch it here:

That’s a good example of what makes Doncic so special: the size, the creativity, the passing vision, and the confidence that whatever he’s trying to is going to work out. Jazz GM Justin Zanik, who helped facilitate the deal between the Mavs and Lakers, called the trade a “gift” for LA, and indicated that’s how rival GMs felt.

The Lakers will have the chance to compete for championships around Doncic going forward if they play their cards right. It sure doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen this year, though.

Yes, the path to the NBA championship is technically “wide open” right now, and the Lakers are sitting in a great spot at the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference with a 32-20 overall record even after the Jazz loss. Maybe if the risky Mark Williams trade would have went through and worked out perfectly, the Lakers could have talked themselves into making a run this year. After the Lakers failed Williams on his physical, though, this roster has a glaring hole in the middle left by the departure of Anthony Davis with no way of filling it until the summer.

Jaxson Hayes is now the Lakers’ starting center. He’s obviously talented as the former No. 10 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, but he’s never been able to carve out a serious rotation spot in the league. Hayes left the loss to the Jazz with a facial contusion, making a thin front court even thinner.

The Lakers signed Alex Len on Wednesday, and his debut didn’t provide much hope for the team. Len played 22 minutes, scored four points, and finished -9 on the night. Even Lakers head coach JJ Redick showed that he felt like the team put Len in a tough spot against the Jazz, but they didn’t have any other options.

The Lakers’ big man rotation feels like the worst in the league right now. The Jazz should be an easy win as the worst team in the West this year at 13-40 overall. It’s going to get so much harder from here for the Lakers, with the fourth hardest schedule in the NBA remaining.

The upcoming All-Star break will be huge benefit for the Lakers in terms of Doncic’s recovery. It’s not going to fix the big man rotation, though. On Thursday, we wrote about the six teams who can win the 2025 NBA championship, and didn’t put the Lakers or Mavericks on there.

The pressure is on Rob Pelinka to put together a championship roster around Doncic starting this summer. It isn’t happening this season.