After shedding a few pounds, a leaner and meaner Luka Doncic shredded the competition at the FIBA European championships.
The Los Angeles Lakers should be excited for the 2025-26 NBA season following Doncic’s historic EuroBasket performance in which he led Slovenia to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Germany.
“Luka’s play in EuroBasket made it clear to the entire basketball world that he’s on that incredibly short list of ‘best player on the planet’ candidates, if not at the top,” said Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, who traveled to Poland to watch Doncic.
Luka described his offseason as a “great summer,” and he appears to be in the best shape of his basketball career. He gave a taste of what he’ll be serving in the upcoming NBA season with a spectacular performance during the European championships.
Doncic led EuroBasket with 34.7 points per game, becoming the third player to average over 30. His average ranks third in tournament history, trailing only Nikos Galis’ 37.0 in 1987 and 35.6 in 1989.
Doncic looks to be in prime shape and prime position to have an MVP-type season for the Lakers, and it’s up to head coach JJ Redick — who signed a two-year contract extension to be with the Lakers through the 2029-30 season — to make sure to put Doncic in the best possible position to succeed in Year 2 of their partnership.
“I expect the best version of Luka, and it’s my job to bring that out every day,” Redick said during a Lakers press conference.
Pelinka and Lakers governor Jeanie Buss traveled to Poland to watch Doncic play for Slovenia and came away impressed with Luka’s growth as a leader.
“He not only led by example, but he was very demonstrative in practice, in terms of his expectations of the team and how they play,” Pelinka said of Luka.
Doncic seems at peace over what transpired on Feb. 2, 2025, when he got traded from Dallas to L.A. But it doesn’t mean he has forgotten about the simple fact that the Mavericks — a team that drafted him and practically raised him — shipped him out of town.
The Luka Revenge Tour is coming to every NBA city, especially in Dallas, and the extra motivation could lead to an MVP season for Luka and a potential return to the NBA Finals for the Lakers.
OneManFastBreak projects the top eight teams in the Western Conference.
1-Oklahoma City Thunder — Fresh off winning an NBA title, the Thunder signed their top three players to significant contracts and brought back their major role players from their championship squad. However, repeating as NBA champions won’t be easy, as the West is stacked and there hasn’t been a repeat NBA champion since the 2018 Warriors.
2-Houston Rockets — The loss of veteran guard Fred VanVleet, who tore his ACL, hurts from a leadership standpoint. The absence of VanVleet puts added pressure on Alperen Sengun to be more of a playmaker. Sengun had a superb EuroBasket, and his blossoming game should make Ime Udoka and the Rockets coaching staff excited. The addition of Kevin Durant and Dorian Finney-Smith make Sengun even more dangerous as he’ll have more room to operate.
3-L.A. Lakers — Pressure is on head coach JJ Redick to navigate around LeBron James’ potential last season with the Lakers, which could become a distraction. LeBron is entering the final year of his Lakers contract, and the team has shown little interest in extending his deal. “We would love for LeBron’s story to retire as a Laker. That’d be a positive story,” Pelinka said about LeBron’s future with the team.
4-Denver Nuggets — The Nuggets are trying to maximize Nikola Jokic’s prime years. They traded Michael Porter Jr., one of the key pieces of their 2023 championship team, to the Brooklyn Nets for a draft pick and forward Cam Johnson. The team moved off Russell Westbrook and brought back Bruce Brown, and signed veteran Jonas Valanciunas. Valanciunas should lessen some of Jokic’s heavy workload at the center spot.
5-Minnesota Timberwolves — Anthony Edwards is rededicating himself to getting in better shape, and it starts on the defensive end. Ant-Man is entering his sixth NBA season. He has been to the conference twice. For the Timberwolves to advance to the NBA Finals, Ant-Man must be more detailed on both ends of the floor.
6-Golden State Warriors — When Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler are healthy and playing together, the Warriors put together a 23-8 record. The problem is that age and mileage might be catching up with Curry (36), Butler (35), and Green (34).
7-San Antonio Spurs — Victor Wembanyama certainly had an adventurous offseason. He trained with Shaolin monks in Zhengzhou, China. He trained with NBA Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon in Houston. Wemby is entering his third season as well-prepared as any player. This could be the year the Spurs return to the postseason.
8-L.A. Clippers — Allegations of a no-show endorsement contract between Kawhi Leonard and a now-bankrupt green banking company hang over the Clippers like a dark cloud. It’ll be up to head coach Ty Lue to keep the team focused and navigate around the scandal.
Play-In teams: Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks