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Par Joël Pütz | Journaliste sportif
Back in February, the Lakers shook up the league when they announced the surprising arrival of Luka Doncic. Now, a prominent journalist has suggested that the Purple and Gold should look again to Dallas to bolster their new roster.
It’s obvious: the Lakers’ current roster isn’t designed to revolve around Luka Doncic. The presence of LeBron James since 2018 has led the Lakers to recruit pieces that the Chosen One could exploit, and despite a similar style of play at times, the Slovenian is not the same player. The coming off-season should therefore serve to reshape the squad to better match the superstar’s needs.
But they’re going to have to be smart, as the franchise doesn’t have a lot of room to maneuver, or any assets to use. Which is why ESPN analyst Tim MacMahon advises them to use the same strategy as last February and turn to the Mavericks, from whom they had already swiped Doncic in exchange for Anthony Davis.
Another Mavericks star soon to be on the Laker’s radar?
As a reminder, Dallas didn’t make the playoffs this season after being eliminated by the Grizzlies during the Play-In. The summer of 2025 promises to be full of uncertainties for the Texan franchise, which needs to address a number of issues… particularly among its centers, where it has several big clients. MacMahon therefore suggests that the two franchises come to an agreement again on a transaction that would help the Lakers:
This is just me kind of being amateur GM trying to figure out things that might make sense. The Mavericks kind of quietly sniffed around about the value of Daniel Gafford before this last deadline. It certainly would make sense for them to do that again this summer.Dereck Lively is a year away from getting an extension, Daniel Gafford is entering the final year of his contract.
Gafford reasonably and rightfully is going to want to get paid starting center money. You can’t have (Anthony Davis) on a max, Lively on a big contract, and pay Gafford starting center money. Luka’s obviously got chemistry with Gafford. I don’t know if Nico (Harrison) wants to go back to Ascension Coffee and have another chitchat with Rob Pelinka so soon, or do something that would benefit Luka.
It’s no secret that the Purple and Gold’s frontcourt represents their biggest project. Los Angeles needs a reliable rim protector, but also a threat in transition and, above all, an alley-oop threat which Doncic can provide in abundance. With Gafford having proved his worth last season alongside El Matador, it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad idea to focus on him. To be continued.
