Lakers: What awaits you with LeBron and Doncic in 2025-26?
Doncic arrives in excellent condition, but the Lakers will not have LeBron from day one. How far will they go?
When LeBron James who turns 41 on December 30, returns to the lineup Los Angeles Lakers In a few weeks, he will be on the team Luka Doncicwho since the summer has been preparing to accept that assignment.
James himself knows that he will no longer have to carry the team on his shoulders, but still in his 23rd season he must be a fundamental piece in the success of the team, not a distraction if it were the last dance of ‘The King’.
The management has made its adjustments and not only kept several key pieces but brought in several players who can and should help. Will the Larry O’Brien Trophy?
Our experts answer these and other questions.
1- Fact or Fiction? The Lakers are serious contenders for the title in 2025-26…
Reality. For the Lakers, this season is title or failure, because by pairing one of the eternal MVP candidates (Luka Doncic) with one of the best in history (LeBron James), expectations were high in the playoffs, but they were eliminated in the first round by the Timberwolves, so they redoubled their bet for this campaign.
Luka will be with the franchise from the beginning and will have the post he wanted so much in DeAndre Ayton, who is looking for revenge in the League, they also added Marcus Smart He will provide defense and postseason experience, so doubts will surround LeBron’s health and whether JJ Redick is the right one to take this team back to the top. — Juan Pablo Sánchez
Fiction: This year, the Lakers will officially enter the Luka Doncic era, after the period in which LeBron James was the top star gave just one more championship to one of the most successful teams in the NBA. But to acquire Doncic, Los Angeles got rid of Anthony Davis, an elite defender in the paint and a great scorer who allowed the Lakers to be among the conference’s elite for several years (when he was healthy, of course). To replace Davis arrives Deandre Ayton, another good, but fragile player who has averaged 27 absences per season since 2021. Even with Luka and LeBron (who turns 41 in December), they are far from the important clubs in the West. —Eric Gomez
2- A Lakers number heading into the season…
1. The number of times the Lakers have made it past the first round of the playoffs since winning the bubble title in 2020. This happened in 2022-23, when they were swept in the Western Conference Finals by the eventual champions, the Denver Nuggets.
Outside of that postseason, they lost in six first-round games to Phoenix in 2020-21, failed to qualify in 2021-22, went in five first-round games to Denver in 2023-24 and to Minnesota in 2024-25. Overall, they are 12-20 in the playoffs since their last title.
There is a sense of urgency in the Lakers, a franchise that is not satisfied with making the playoffs or passing a round. Anything short of winning the championship is failure for the yellow and purple team, more than for any other franchise. Will they be ready to break that recent curse? —Hiram Martinez
3- What would be the best and worst version of the Lakers this season?
The best: One in which they learn to win without LeBron James, one that looks to the future with Luka Doncic who came for that, to be the new leader of the team. One where they don’t panic if James misses a game or 10. During last season, the team knew how to overcome LeBron’s absence, that must be the path of the yellow and purple; Furthermore, and this seems to be clear, knowing that Bronny is not and will not be the shadow of his father, if he is in the Lakers it is because of LeBron, not because of talent, and to think that the glories will come through him is a mistake. The best version for the Angelenos must be one in which Doncic orders the game and is the reference.
The worst version: There are several. One is depending on LeBron, which is explained above. Another is the injuries. While the Lakers squad is strong, Luka Doncic is prone to them. And another, having a weakness again in the three-point shot. Until the arrival of Rui Hachimura and Doncic himself, Los Angeles lacked a three-point shot, which several times cost them results by falling short in a league that increasingly uses the three-point shot as its main resource.
An NBA great like the Lakers cannot fall back into irregularity and be fighting throughout the season to reach the play-in, and even less so with the figures they have. —Roland of the Forest
4- Are they already Luka Doncic’s Lakers?
They have been from the moment the Lakers completed the memorable transaction, and it was demonstrated in the process that culminated with the signing of their contract extension.
LeBron James is still there, the leader on the court and on the court. Definitely. But the lynchpin of the team, and of the franchise in general, is Doncic. The bridge from James to Doncic masterfully extends the Lakers’ containment window, which despite the 2020 championship, has had its ups and downs in the LeBron era since 2018.
With Doncic, there will also be ups and downs. But the time factor is in its favor and it has not yet entered its prime. Let there be no doubt, the Lakers belong to Luka. —Victor O. Lopez
