Inside Luka Dončić's Lakers Adjustment After NBA All-Star Break: 'I'm Happy to Be Here'
Luka Dončić discusses his return and continued adjustment to the Los Angeles Lakers after a trade and injury, highlighting his progress and challenges.
LOS ANGELES — Luka Dončić continued his midseason adjustment to the Los Angeles Lakers (32-21) in Wednesday’s 100-97 loss against the Charlotte Hornets (14-39). He played his third game since being traded and after returning a return from a six-week injury absence caused by a strained left calf.
“Honestly, I was getting my mind off basketball a little bit, but I'm just excited to come back and play,” said Dončić when asked how he spent his All-Star break. “I missed a lot of time. I've never missed this much time, so it's something new to me. I was just excited to get back to playing."
Dončić played 33 minutes against the Hornets, no longer on a time restriction, but showed that he’s still finding a rhythm in the early stages of a long-term process. He totaled 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists against Charlotte, nearly recording a triple-double. However, he shot 5 of 18 overall and 1 of 9 from deep with 6 turnovers.
“Obviously, it’s going to take a little time,” Dončić said. “Today, a lot of rustiness on my part. Started the game with like four or five turnovers. That can’t happen. Just gotta play basketball the right way.”
As a Laker, averaging 14.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists in 26.7 minutes per game while shooting 35.6% from the floor and 20.8% from deep, Dončić is playing well below his usual standards, but he’s eager to continue this process of getting back to form. Against the Hornets, he was focused on playing his game, even when shots weren’t falling at a characteristic rate. His scoring output of just 0.635 points per possession (PPP) in the half-court as a Laker ranks him 426th among 429 players with 50 or more plays this season. There’s a lot of room to improve regarding execution.
"Just play the way I play,” Dončić said. “We're just trying to try to stay aggressive, do some other things that can help to get a win, but just stay aggressive."
Dončić has only taken 13.9% of his attempts at the rim when operating in the half-court but has been highly efficient when he gets there. He’s shot just 4 of 22 (15.4%) on jump shots when operating in the half-court, struggling to get his looks to fall, whether taking an off-the-dribble jumper or spotting up. That’ll surely improve with time as he acclimates to when and where his shots will come.
Throughout Dončić’s career, he keeps his explanations simple when discussing what goes into hot shooting stretches: it’s all about the legs. He feels he needs to get his legs under him, describing it as “very difficult.”
“Yes, the truth is that, as I said before, I need a little time,” Dončić said. “The legs are still not there; it is very difficult with the legs. But each game will be better. So, I'm happy to be able to play another game and move forward."
Austin Reaves, who was ejected for the first time in his NBA career in the second half after picking up two technical fouls, emphasized the importance of Dončić playing his game in the Lakers’ offense instead of changing himself. There are three ball-handling options with Reaves in the starting lineup, but the continuity has to be built.
“Luka's a one-of-a-kind player, a top three player in this league, and he's gotta be comfortable being himself,” Reaves said. “He's one of the best players in the world, so we need him to be him. It's just gonna take a couple of games, a couple of weeks to figure out what that best looks like, but I think that with the group that we have, we can do that fairly quickly.”
With Dončić in the offense, the Lakers have made many threes, setting a new season high in consecutive games. First, they shot 50 times from deep in their 131-119 loss against the Utah Jazz before the break, followed by 51 three-point attempts against the Hornets. Turnovers were a problem, as Los Angeles had 18 against Charlotte. Regardless, the 119 points scored against the Jazz was a much better showing than putting up 97 at home versus the Hornets while shooting just 41.1% from the floor, 29.4% from deep, and 66.7% from the free-throw line. There is plenty to clean up and improve, but intrigue remains about putting the pieces together.
“I think sometimes, when the group is trying to get acclimated with each other, you can try to play the right way too much and turn down shots, and then you can try to get yourself in a rhythm and not make the extra pass,” Redick said. “I think the flow of everything is gonna happen. I'm excited because this is a new problem to solve.”
As Redick put it, the Lakers played between 39 and 44 minutes of “pretty poor offense.” Despite this sloppy offensive display, he was encouraged by his group's activity and effort level and remained confident in their future execution.
“Some of that’s to be expected. Some of it was sloppiness, some of it was poor spacing, and some of it was poor execution.” Redick said. “The reason I’m not going to read too much into that is because I think our guys competed tonight, and they played extremely hard.”
Redick related a sluggish performance from the All-Star break to his playing career but also pointed out the team is still integrating new players. With a shorter turnaround time due to games being rescheduled following recent wildfires, the Lakers do not have the luxury of extra practice time to iron out these details.
“I also think Charlotte played very sloppy [and] that’s not to make an excuse. That’s just the reality of just having six days off as a group and trying to integrate new pieces,” Redick explained. “That happens sometimes. I’ve been a part of those first games after All-Star break when they are humming, and I’ve been a part of them when they’ve been sloppy like they were tonight.”
The Lakers have plenty to work through offensively as they build chemistry together. A significant focus against Charlotte was attacking mismatches in the post, but executing out of double teams was challenging. Early, leveraging Rui Hachimura as a mismatch option was adequate, with Dončić assisting through a few entry passes. Late in the game, James took over by playing on the perimeter and often hunting Mark Williams, either getting a look from deep or attacking downhill.
Dončić believes in the Lakers’ offensive approach. He felt the team should strive for the quality of shots it generated, but it didn’t convert nearly as efficiently as it usually would. He singled his performance out for the lack of shotmaking but remains encouraged about the long-term payoff with patience.
“I think it is good. Obviously, like I said, I'm going to need a little time just to adjust to everything. But I think it was fine,” Dončić explained. “Today, I think we had some good opportunities to make shots, but we didn't make any shots, especially me. [It will] just take a little time to get used to it.”
Dončić turned it over often early on and missed plenty of shots he tends to make, especially on rim-outs throughout the night, but he had some stretches of brilliance that shouldn’t be overlooked. He rattled off three consecutive assists in the second quarter, orchestrating a plug-and-play lineup while James was on the bench. Plenty of read-and-react plays led to clean looks for teammates throughout the night. The ability to hunt mismatches will be a core principle for Los Angeles to build on while keeping Dončić and James engaged as focal points.
One play flashed the offense’s potential when Dončić patiently surveyed the defense in the post, waiting for a double to develop before firing a well-timed pass to James. Without a defender in a position to contain James, he attacked the rim for an emphatic dunk—initiated by Dončić manipulating the defense.
“Yeah, for sure. That's going to be it every night,” James said. “Obviously, myself, Luka [Dončić] and AR [Austin Reaves], we're going to draw so much attention. Myself and Luka, we're going to get double-teamed a lot. These guys have to be recipients and be ready to shoot, drive, or pass. It's easy. It's an easy game after that.”
There was a viable chance for the Lakers to win after Dončić completed a putback with 1:03 left to play. However, Nick Smith Jr. made Los Angeles pay for giving him space to shoot from deep. A pair of missed free throws from Hachimura allowed Charlotte to take a two-possession lead as LaMelo Ball continued his clutch heroics down the stretch, including Charlotte frequently trying to attack Dončić by bringing him into the action while having five personal fouls.
“ I thought we did a good job when we went to our fires,” Redick said. “The big one, the Nick Smith three, sometimes, when a guy holds on to the ball for a long time that you're doubling, he can kind of survey and put you in a long rotation, but just a little bit late on that rotation. We can probably get off that earlier, whether it's firing, shifts, I mean, there are certain guys we were, we were comfortable shifting off of.
“There are certain guys we were comfortable doubling off of. When they were when they were putting Luka in everything, I thought, overall, we did a decent job of that,” Redick explained. “We'll look at the tape and figure out where we can improve.”
In the game’s final moments, the Lakers played through James, who scored 16 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter. Deployed as an inbounder, Dončić felt it was the right decision to feed James the hot hand, but it could change in future situations based on how the game is going.
"It's both ways. He had it going, so obviously we're gonna go to him,” Dončić emphasized. “I think he'll go both ways, so one time it's gonna be him, one time me, so I think it depends how the game's going. Just overall, it depends."
Redick echoed this sentiment, sharing his gratitude for having multiple threats, such as who can make the pass or be on the receiving end and make a play. James had two late threes with a chance to tie up but missed both.
“There are some interchangeable parts in some of the late game stuff, and as a coach, you're excited that you have two guys who can be the passer and the guy who gets the pass,” Redick said. “But it felt like LeBron, particularly in the fourth, found a nice rhythm and felt really comfortable with that, and we got two good looks.”
James encourages patience with Dončić’s adjustment as the Lakers proceed, citing how much information his new teammate can absorb and apply in real time. Everything Dončić has grown accustomed to in an NBA setting has been as a Dallas Maverick. During the season, he’s learning a new ecosystem on the fly while getting his legs under him.
“It's his third game since Christmas, and it's his third game with us,” James said. “He still doesn't know all the plays. He doesn't know all the defensive coverages, all of the signals, and things we've built since September. Obviously, we were trying to fast-track it on the fly. He's coming back from his injury. He's getting back into form. So, we're all working through it together.”
The Lakers face a quick turnaround as they take on the Portland Trail Blazers in a road matchup to complete a back-to-back. Given the circumstances, how many key players will suit up for Los Angeles remains to be seen, but a test against the Denver Nuggets looms on Saturday.
It’s early in the process, but Dončić remains positive. His appreciation for playing for an iconic franchise like the Lakers hasn’t waned.
“I'm happy to be here, man,” Dončić said. “This is one of the greatest clubs in the world. Just happy to be here. Obviously, I'm gonna need some time, but I'm happy to represent the Lakers."
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