Renowned NBA skills trainer Drew Hanlen made a bold prediction on the Los Angeles Lakers in the aftermath of the seismic trade that landed them Luka Doncic.
“They’ve got some [pieces] and again I think that it’s going to be the most attractive destination this summer for free agents,” Hanlen said on “The Kevin O’Connor Show” podcast. “There’s going to be a lot of talking about, ‘Hey just come here, get underpaid for a year and then you’ll get overpaid the following year’ and so I think we’ll see the Lakers make a big splash in the offseason and I think have a more of a chance to be a real contender next year.”
The Lakers could create as much as $31.3 million cap room this summer if all other options, cap holds and exceptions are declined, waived and renounced, per Spotrac.
They have a lot of expiring contracts — Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes, Alex Len and Markieff Morris — that will be off their books and player options on LeBron James and Dorian Finney-Smith. They also have their 2031 first-round pick and four pick swaps to utilize in trades.
Their first order of business would be to look for a lob threat for Doncic after they rescinded the Mark Williams trade. Then, they have to surround the Doncic-James-Austin Reaves trio with more two-way players who can shoot the 3.
Drew Hanlen Slams ‘Luka-LeBron Won’t Work’ Naysayers
The James-Doncic pairing hasn’t gotten off to a great start and remains a work in progress because of two factors, according to Hanlen.
“The bigs and time,” Hanlen said. “What I mean by the time is because even in Miami when they had their big three, it took them — they got to the finals [on the first year] — a year to get over that hump and sometimes it does take time.”
Hanlen also slammed the naysayers that the James-Doncic wouldn’t work because both are ball-dominant players.
“I was so surprised by how many people on social media were like, ‘Well how is it going to work? They both need the ball in their hands,’” Hanlen mused. “I’m like, dude, these are two of the smartest basketball players that have ever played the game.”
The Luka Effect in Long-Term
Hanlen sees Doncic taking over the Lakers’ offense once he gets healthier and in turn, would extend James’ career.
“That’s one of the most underrated parts of the pairing is that I think this will extend LeBron’s career,” Hanlen said. “I don’t work with LeBron so I’m not in his inner circle and thought like ‘Oh my God, is the end near? We’re not going to see LeBron go out there and average 12 points a game and just hang on to his career.
“The kind of sentiment from everybody is once he can’t average 20 again, he’s out like that’s kind of where we want to. He’s going to respect the game in that tone, but like him being able to play with Luka handling a lot of the regular season and him just kind of [pacing] his body for the postseason, I think this could extend his career for another year or two.”
Hanlen, who trains Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Bradley Beal, Zach LaVine, RJ Barrett and several other NBA players, refers to Doncic as the “cheat code” because the 25-year-old Slovenian star can single-handedly lead an underdog team deep in the playoffs like he’d shown in Dallas.
“Then you go, ‘Oh yeah and we also have LeBron,’” Hanlen said.
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