A lot of pressure will be put on Luka Doncic to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to success, and not everyone has full confidence in him. NBA insider Zach Lowe discussed the overall health and conditioning of Doncic. The Dallas Mavericks stunned the NBA world by trading Luka to the Lakers for a terrible trade package of Anthony Davis and Max Christie.
However, Lowe believes that the Mavericks had a fair point when second guessing if Doncic can stay health for the Lakers to succeed:
“Are we a year removed from the Men’s Health cover of Luka? That was a monumental moment in Luka history, and he was in better shape last year, and he still missed time with leg injuries, including in the playoffs. This was obviously the Mavericks’ fear when they made an objectively insane trade.”
The injury to Luka right before the postseason saw him forced to miss both of Los Angeles’ playoff series against the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder. Former Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison felt that Doncic’s poor conditioning and health would prevent him from ever being the best player on a championship team. Lowe questioned if Luka still getting injured after improving his condition is a bad sign for his future.
Is Zach Lowe Being Fair About Luka Doncic?
The overall point from Lowe was meant to question Doncic’s future success and how far he can get in the league. Lowe did acknowledge that the trade was objectively insane, especially since Dallas already traded Davis away to the Washington Wizards.
The Lakers losing LeBron James in free agency adds to the interesting story of Luka becoming the face of the franchise. Despite being the best player last season, the star power of LeBron made them a star-studded duo with media and fans fascinating to see them together.
This upcoming season will see Doncic only having Austin Reaves as a co-star since the rest of the roster is full of role players. Lowe and many others have huge concerns about the Lakers that is going back to Luka not being able to “carry” a lackluster to success due to his issues.
Luka Doncic Can Prove Critics Wrong
The only way for Doncic to answer these criticisms is to do what he did in Dallas. Luka must stay on the court and lead his team to victories on the highest level. Kyrie Irving was his co-star, but Doncic led an otherwise flawed Mavericks’ roster to the NBA Finals just a few years ago.
The Lakers are hoping to follow this blueprint and even made moves similar to what Dallas did. Kessler was added to provide a defensively impressive starting center. Guards like Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton were added to provide more depth.
Luka has a history of clicking well with other guards, like Irving and Jalen Brunson in the past Mavericks years. The Lakers are banking on Doncic being able to make up for their other flaws and to prove people like Lowe wrong in questioning if he can win with this team.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Zach Lowe Predicts Mavericks May Be Right About Luka Doncic appeared first on HEAVY.