Each week throughout the 2025-26 NBA season, we’ll explore major league storylines to determine if the trends we\u2019re seeing hold up to scrutiny.<\/p>\n
Last week\u2019s focus: Jonathan Kuminga is a talented basketball player.<\/p>\n
Fact or Fiction: Can the Lakers build a championship team around Luka Doncic’s defense?<\/p>\n
If you search for “JJ Redick,” you’ll find headlines like \u201cLakers coach criticizes team effort\u201d or \u201cNewest attempt to fix Los Angeles\u2019 defense.\u201d After a recent 115-107 win over a short-handed Denver Nuggets, Redick remarked to reporters, \u201cMy staff, analytics team, and I are focused on finding the best defensive approach for this group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now halfway through the season\u2014and nearing the anniversary of Doncic\u2019s trade to the Lakers, who\u2019ll face his former team this Saturday\u2014the team\u2019s defense has shown slight progress. Back in December, Redick believed that defensive issues couldn\u2019t be fixed tactically, only by players exerting more effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve practiced extensively, analyzed the plays, and shown film,\u201d he said after losing to the Suns. \u201cNow it\u2019s about choosing to put in the effort\u2014sprinting back, taking a second chance. Sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether this is a coaching strategy or reflects player mindset, the Lakers\u2019 defensive struggles are clear. They rank 25th out of 30 teams, giving up 117.3 points per 100 possessions this season. Since early December, their rating worsens to 119.2 points allowed per 100 possessions\u201429th in the league and only better than the historically poor Utah Jazz defense.<\/p>\n
A major cause of their weak defense is that few teams prioritize guarding Doncic. Synergy\u2019s stats show opponents run 2.2 possessions per game against his isolation plays\u2014the highest in the league. Although this only measures the volume of plays, it illustrates the issue clearly. Tyler Herro ranks second, highlighting the accuracy of this stat.<\/p>\n
Another factor is the supporting cast: LeBron James and Austin Reaves, though offensive standouts, are not defensive stalwarts, while Deandre Ayton does little rim protection. After a blowout loss, Redick admitted, \u201cOur team defense was terrible all night.\u201d Marcus Smart, who may be their best defender, is unlikely to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors at age 31.<\/p>\n
Smart himself acknowledged in December, \u201cWhen we give up offensive rebounds in key moments, and there\u2019s no urgency or help defense, there\u2019s really nothing JJ can do. It\u2019s up to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defensively, the Lakers aren\u2019t currently good enough to contend for a title. This raises an important question that Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison answered negatively last year: can you build a championship team around Doncic\u2019s defense?<\/p>\n
The short answer is yes (contrary to Nico\u2019s view). At 24, Doncic led a Mavericks squad with Kyrie Irving and role players to the 2024 NBA Finals, despite their defense ranking only 18th. It shows that with the right two-way contributors, a championship is possible alongside Doncic, who leads the league averaging 33.4 points, 8.7 assists, and 7.8 rebounds per game.<\/p>\n
But can the Lakers replicate this? It\u2019s tougher, especially given front office missteps post-2020 championship. While they have Doncic, Reaves, and aging LeBron\u2014three top scorers\u2014the trio is outscored by 7.4 points per 100 possessions, a figure similar to this year\u2019s struggling Washington Wizards.<\/p>\n
Though LeBron, now 41, may have a strained relationship with team management, a trade before the February 5 deadline seems unlikely given the challenge of acquiring enough defensive help to contend.<\/p>\n
LeBron\u2019s free agency this summer, however, could free up as much as $54 million in cap space, giving the Lakers a chance to build around Doncic over the coming years before Reaves signs a max extension.<\/p>\n
With LeBron off the court, the duo of Doncic and Reaves currently outperforms opponents by 14.2 points per 100 possessions, combining elite offense with top-three defense, according to Cleaning the Glass.<\/p>\n
This suggests adopting a Mavericks-style approach\u2014partnering Doncic with a strong two-way wing like Reaves and adding complementary players\u2014could work.<\/p>\n
However, the 2026 free agent class is weak defensively. Could veterans like Draymond Green or injury-prone Robert Williams III be lured to Los Angeles? The Lakers may need to be creative with trades, future draft picks, or even dealing Reaves to acquire necessary 3-and-D wings, since everyone is chasing similar talent.<\/p>\n
Lastly, there remains the question of whether Rob Pelinka is the right executive to orchestrate this rebuild, especially with new ownership that did not hire him, eager to invest heavily in winning.<\/p>\n
Determination: Fact.<\/p>\n
The Lakers can build a championship around Doncic, but not this season. It will take time\u2014likely years\u2014but they have the necessary asset. Doncic, now 26, is under contract through 2028-29. (Thank you, Nico.)<\/p>\n
Fan Take:<\/strong> This analysis matters because it highlights how building a championship around a transcendent star like Luka Doncic requires more than just talent\u2014it demands the right supporting cast and organizational vision. For basketball fans, watching how the Lakers navigate this challenge in the coming years will shape the NBA\u2019s competitive landscape and could redefine what it takes to win with a superstar in today\u2019s game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Each week throughout the 2025-26 NBA season, we’ll explore major league storylines to determine if the trends we\u2019re seeing hold up to scrutiny. Last week\u2019s focus: Jonathan Kuminga is a talented basketball player. Fact or Fiction: Can the Lakers build a championship team around Luka Doncic’s defense? If you search for “JJ Redick,” you’ll find […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[39],"class_list":{"0":"post-38484","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}