With the regular season nearly completed, it is almost time to turn the page to the 2025 edition of the NBA Playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers have high hopes after acquiring Luka Doncic via a blockbuster trade in February, but a warning has been given to him as well as LeBron James
An anonymous NBA scout highlighted a problem within the Lakers that James or Doncic will not be able to fix on their own.
Luka has to guard somebody, and you can wear him down,” the scout said via ESPN. “When LeBron is on the weak side, he switches so he doesn’t have to move as much. I’ve seen him do it several times in one possession. In the playoffs you will see teams target LeBron and Luka, put them in the pick-and-roll.
“The thing with LeBron is he’s not going to foul; you can score on him with the right matchup. With the right personnel he could be exposed on defense in the playoffs. He’s amazing, taking nothing from him, but it’s a worry.”
Additionally, the Lakers’ lack of interior size could give their playoff opponents a weakness to exploit.
Luka [Doncic] historically made his bigs have these great seasons. [James] Harden is the same way — they get centers paid. He’s doing that for [Ivica] Zubac now,” the executive said. “The Lakers are asking Rui [Hachimura] and [Dorian] Finney-Smith to play [center] and they’re skill sets are as easy for Luka to elevate. It will come down to whether [Hachimura and Finney-Smith] can make shots.
James and Doncic will have high expectations for their playoff performance, as the Lakers expect them to make a difference
With the playoffs approaching, the Los Angeles Lakers are hoping to see their addition of Luka Doncic pay off. Despite his status as one of the NBA’s biggest stars, there are players that Doncic does not match up well against, however.
Paul Pierce mentioned two players that could give Doncic trouble on a recent edition of FS1’s “Speak”.
