The Luka Doncic Question

After an early exit in his first postseason with the Lakers, questions surrounding the 26-year-old superstar are only getting louder

Few moments in my sports fandom can compare to the genuine shock I felt on the evening of February 1st when I learned that Luka Doncic was being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Incredulous would be an understatement. I was wholly convinced that it was the work of some hacker who managed to get ahold of ESPN’s Shams Charania’s X account.

Even as other league insiders confirmed the report, I still had doubts. Maybe their accounts had been compromised too, as part of an elaborate scheme. As far-fetched as that theory was, it seemed more plausible than the alternative explanation: that the Dallas Mavericks had suddenly dealt their franchise centerpiece.

At 25, Doncic was viewed as one of the most valuable assets in the sport and had led Dallas to the NBA Finals the previous season. Moving on from him was unfathomable, and the reports that followed only made the situation harder to digest.

Mavericks general manager, Nico Harrison, had concealed his plan to trade Doncic from the rest of the organization, blindsiding Doncic, head coach Jason Kidd, and the rest of the roster. Moreover, instead of shopping Doncic to various teams to find the best possible deal, Harrison only divulged his desire to move Doncic to Rob Pelinka and the Lakers, stripping him of any leverage.

The Mavericks received Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick in exchange for Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris. While it wasn’t nothing, it paled in comparison to the king’s ransom that teams assumed would be necessary to land a player of a Doncic’s caliber.

The move stoked outrage in the Dallas community and rendered Harrison Public Enemy No. 1. Perhaps the greatest tragedy in all of this is that Harrison handled the trade process so poorly that nothing will fully vindicate him, even if his thesis on Doncic proves to be correct.

Harrison’s contention was that Doncic wasn’t compatible with his vision of a championship defense. Although Dallas reached the NBA Finals in 2024, Doncic was routinely picked on by the well-rounded Boston Celtics.

Boston would look to get Doncic to switch onto the ball handler before breaking him down for an easy bucket. The Mavericks’ defense crumbled as its weakest link was exploited possession after possession.

It’s a little reductive to say the series was solely decided by Doncic’s defense. He received little help from co-star Kyrie Irving, and Boston was, by every conceivable metric, a flat-out better basketball team. However, the series did raise a legitimate question. Can Doncic reach all-time great status while being a defensive liability?

The phrase “defense wins championships” is one of the most overused cliches in all of sports, but it isn’t without merit. Defensive prowess is one of the best predictors of team success in both the regular and postseason. The Celtics, who beat the Mavs in five games of last year’s finals, had the second-best defensive rating in the league during the regular season, a clear advantage over Dallas, which finished 18th.

The top-performing teams in that metric so far this postseason are the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Celtics, all of whom won more than 60 games in the regular season and were among the top eight in defensive rating during that time. This isn’t an emerging trend; many of the greatest dynasties in the history of the sport have been built on the backs of legendary defenses.

There is also a relationship between defensive performance and individual greatness. It’s taken for granted that almost all of the so-called GOATs were two-way stars. Michael Jordan is possibly the greatest perimeter defender in league history, LeBron James is one of the most versatile, being able to defend all five positions at his peak, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made 11 All-Defensive teams.

Other consensus all-timers include Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Hakeem Olajuwon, Bill Russell, and many more who were revered for their defensive ability.

The only widely accepted top 10 player who didn’t excel defensively is Magic Johnson. Even then, he wasn’t considered a poor defender during his career; he just wasn't a star on that end of the court.

In an era where scoring and offensive efficiency continue to rise, one might think individual defense is less important, but you could actually argue the opposite. The league is filled with so many talented scorers that it’s very difficult to hide a subpar on-ball defender.

Thirty years ago, the Lakers could’ve stuck Doncic on the opposing team’s worst offensive player and probably gotten away with it. The 2025 NBA, however, is a different animal.

The Minnesota Timberwolves took down the three-seeded Lakers in five games in Doncic’s first playoff action with Los Angeles. The Slovenian’s defensive woes were highlighted throughout the series and have reignited the conversations that circulated last June.

Doncic is the total package offensively. He’s a prolific scorer with a knack for finding open teammates and creative advantages. While he’s almost always the best offensive player on the court, he can also be the worst defender, creating a nullifying effect. He’ll score an impressive two points on one side of the court and immediately give up two on the other.

Admittedly, this isn’t an issue unique to Doncic. Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic has received similar criticism for his inconsistent defensive play over the years. The difference is Jokic has a championship, and even though the Miami Heat team he bested in 2023 was much weaker than the Celtics team Doncic encountered, the hardware muffles much of the well-deserved scrutiny.

The Lakers were right to pull the trigger on the Doncic trade. He’s a rare talent, and such players are seldom made available, especially without the athlete’s request. With that said, Doncic is far from an easy plug-and-play for a team with championship aspirations. His defensive flaws can stay hidden for games, even weeks at a time, but they always seem to pop up at the most inopportune moments.

Doncic is more than talented enough to be worth the challenges his game presents, but etching his name into the pantheon of Lakers greats won’t be easy. It will require him to be more consistent with his effort and conditioning, coach J.J. Redick to prevent opposing teams from abusing Doncic when they have the ball, and the Lakers front office to assemble a team that can compensate for his defensive lapses.

The Luka Doncic experiment in Los Angeles is just getting started, and if it weren’t clear before, the Lakers now know exactly what they signed up for.