Luka Doncic Injury Update: Lakers’ JJ Redick Announces Playoff Plans

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic has seen his season suddenly flip on its head. 

Doncic sustained a Grade 2 hamstring strain in the Lakers’ crushing road loss to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Los Angeles was riding high entering the contest, winning 15 of 17 contests. 

Doncic’s injury immediately changes a ton for the team. While it is still locked into the playoffs and currently possesses the third seed, L.A. has some work to do if it wants to avoid conceding positioning before the start of the postseason. The Lakers must win at least three of their remaining five games to avoid surrendering the third seed. They also own the tie-breaker with the Denver Nuggets, the fourth seed in the conference. 

Los Angeles will be forced to carry on without its best player. Doncic, 27, will be sidelined indefinitely. A Grade 2 hamstring strain has a typical recovery time of 3-6 weeks. If Doncic falls on the shortest end of that timeline, he could possibly return for a late first round game. But the Lakers would need to extend the series long enough for that to happen. 

For now, the team’s focus is to maintain some steam over the final five games of the regular season. 

Head coach JJ Redick announces team’s plans without Doncic

How do you replace someone of Doncic’s ilk? 

The 27-year-old Lakers star assembled a majestic March. He joined Michael Jordan and James Harden as the only players ever to record at least 600 points in a single month. 

Doncic had several gargantuan scoring performances last month. He had a 50 and 60-point outing and registered a 40-point night three games in a row. He earned Western Conference Player of the Month. 

The answer is it’s impossible to replace that kind of star. The Lakers will have to fill their MVP candidate’s shoes by committee and coach Redick has to unload a very strategically-crafted blueprint. 

GettyLos Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick faces a tall task with Luka Doncic sidelined.

After Saturday’s practice, the Lakers bench boss was asked about the team’s outlook with Doncic likely to be out of the equation for a while. 

According to team reporter Mike Trudell, Redick stated the Lakers will have to mix up their strategy to discover a new rhythm without Doncic. 

“After Saturday’s practice, JJ Redick said the Lakers are going to have to play a bit differently from a strategic standpoint without Luka, who was obviously doing so much,” Trudell wrote on X. 

What is L.A.’s best bet without Doncic, and how should the team try to execute it? 

It’s one thing to lose your best player at the start of or even the middle of the season. The Lakers lost Doncic at the tail end of the season.

The last seven months have revolved around one guy. The team has followed a particular gameplan each night to cater to its best player and best position players around him to maximize the offense. 

Since October, the Lakers have performed a singular operation: let Doncic create for himself or his teammates; either he gets to play one-on-one, or he uses his playmaking genius to create open shots for others. 

Los Angeles has another player who has built a Hall of Fame resume doing just that. His name is LeBron James. But James’ role has changed dramatically since Doncic’s arrival in L.A. James is also the oldest player in the NBA and clearly a little past his prime. Had this been 10 years ago, perhaps losing Doncic would’ve been a lot less devastating to their team’s chances to go further. 

L.A. was dealt more devastating news today after it was announced star guard Austin Reaves will miss the rest of the season with an oblique injury. Just brutal.

That leaves James as the lone star. We’ve already seen many unexpected events this season — could we see James channel “2018 LeBron” this postseason?

The playoffs are set to begin exactly two weeks from today. By then, if the Lakers aren’t at least semi-confident in their approach without Doncic and Reaves, their season may not last another week. 

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