Luka Doncic Discussion: Lean Mean Slovenian Scoring Machine

Discussion in 'Lakers Discussion' started by KareemtheGreat33, Feb 1, 2025.

  1. Zoyd Wheeler

    Zoyd Wheeler - Lakers 6th Man -

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    That last run of 18 games when we were 16-2 was pretty frikkin' sweet, but it's over now. It's as if we're a play-in team now.

    I suspect this is it for Lebron James too. I mean, the dude can still play at a ridiculously high level for a 41 year old: but does he want to keep going? He's proven everything he needed to prove. I seriously doubt we pay him what we wants, so if he's not ready to retire, what would the Cavs be willing to pay?

    Man, all I really wanted was a WCF team and I was beginning to believe we had that, but after this recent Dark Night of the Lakers Soul in OKC, I'm ready for a long-azzed summer and seeing how the management builds a deeper team around the slick thick Slovenian scoring machine.
     
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  2. ElginTheGreat

    ElginTheGreat - Lakers Legend -

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    I think LeBron may actually come back but we will see. It would definitely come at way less than 50 mil.

    I expect us to be active on the free agent market but the draft will play a role as well. We could trade our pick but there a several big men I would be interested in if they dropped a bit.

    Gafford would be nice but I can’t imagine the Mavs trading with us again for a very long time.
     
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  3. tada

    tada - Lakers All Star -

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    Worst timing to get hurt. We got robbed of seeing Luka Magic in the playoffs, and as some have mentioned, it makes it harder to assess who to keep and who to sign, which can set us back another year. We're pretty much in the same spot we were the past few years --- Lebron/AD with their injuries heading into the playoffs. It's really disappointing.

    Well that might be it for me this season. See ya'll in the offeason.
     
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  4. Kenzo

    Kenzo - Lakers MVP -

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    3rd year in a row when Luka is banged up/injured for the playoffs... im starting to have a deja vu :(
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2026 at 12:43 AM
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  5. wcsoldier81

    wcsoldier81 - Lakers All Star -

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    Luka has played too much ball for his age .. and yeah soft tissues injuries are a bad sign going forward .
     
  6. pika1708

    pika1708 - Lakers Starter -

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    Yup, worst thing is really not having a good look into the supporting cast that would give us so much information into the summer. That's the biggest loss imo. It sucks also not being competitive this postseason but it would be very surprising to beat 2 of OKC/SAS/DEN anyway.
    Yeah this is relevant too. We gotta find a way to keep him healthy on April. Himself needs to look at this with attention as it impacts his legacy

    Incredible how things change in a single game in NBA.
     
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  7. FrontOfJersey22

    FrontOfJersey22 - Lakers All Star -

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    We need a coach who doesn’t run their players into the ground.
    I’m done with JJ.
     
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  8. ADKOBE

    ADKOBE - Lakers 6th Man -

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  9. audiosway

    audiosway - Rookie -

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    Dang. Now AR is out for the rest of the season. This is crazy.
     
  10. audiosway

    audiosway - Rookie -

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    I think we need to upgrade the training staff. Luka stayed healthy until Nico got rid of Casey Smith. He is with the Knicks now. Dude is a killer trainer.
     
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  11. audiosway

    audiosway - Rookie -

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    You may be right about the Mavs not trading with us. I hope not. But, you may be.

    I would like to see LeBron back if he is playing in his current role at a much lower price. From what I hear this draft is going to be deep. So, we may get a good player out of it.
     
  12. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

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    gafford's value is probably pretty low right now. mavs may end up moving him as part of another deal, after which we could land him.

    i'm still not sure he's actually much better than hayes/ayton, tbh.

    but i'm just repeating my "don't spend on non-star centers" mantra.

    anyway, luka thread: i was glad his calf issue didn't return this year (AD's bothered him for like a year and a half, iirc), but it got replaced by the hammy. walter needs to spend on the best PT folks if we want luka to be upright for the big moments.
     
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  13. svtzr

    svtzr - Lakers Starter -

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    There’s a lot of things you can do to alleviate hamstring issues, there’s a PHD out of QUT, Australia that did a study on eccentric loading of the hamstring and developed various exercises for this. It was a game changer for me.

    You’d think top trainers would be across this but it’s not super wide spread yet. Hopefully the current health team are on top of this and can get Luka to 100%.

    If they don’t, this becomes a chronic thing that reoccurs constantly.
     
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  14. LTLakerFan

    LTLakerFan - Lakers Legend -

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    So you haven’t contacted the Lakers yet with these several medical savants in different sports medicine fields? Come on seriously. :D I’ve done it the last 2 drafts banging on them to finagle something to move up and get one of the good big men coming out. You’ve actually competed professionally and know some genius types maybe they’d like to look at with Mark’s fat checkbook.

    :Kobe Shrug:
     
  15. svtzr

    svtzr - Lakers Starter -

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    How does one even go about contacting the right people? If you guys have a connect I’d be happy to write an email.

    From past experience I’ve always felt like people were insecure and threatened when new theories or professionals were being explored. It can get quite messy, but the whole point is to keep your assets healthy and productive, so the hope would be people leave their egos out of it.
     

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