Crypto.com Arena stays dark until October 21, but the question that will decide the Lakers' season was already asked the day LeBron James left for Philadelphia. With no LeBron to share the marquee, can Doncic be the singular star who gets this franchise back to a Finals stage by himself.
The Case For
The evidence is already stacking up. Last season Doncic averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists across 64 games, running an offense that finished 10th in the league at 117.0 points per hundred possessions. Austin Reaves backed him up at 23.3 a night, the clear second scorer. Three preseason games fit the same pattern: a 127-103 win at Sacramento, a 114-110 win over the Kings in which Doncic scored 23 and Sandro Mamukelashvili added 19, bracketing a lopsided loss at Golden State. The engine runs when it's on the floor.
The Case Against
The math around him is tighter. Payroll already sits at $201.3 million, above the $200.4 million luxury tax line, with $49.8 million committed to Doncic, $41.2 million to Reaves and $30.2 million to Walker Kessler. Last season's defense ranked 19th, and the net rating of plus-1.5 landed only 14th despite 53 wins. Draft capital to fix any of it is thin: the 2027 first is protected to Memphis, the 2029 first is owed to Dallas, and most remaining picks through 2030 are swaps or seconds owed elsewhere. Kessler, the one true center, played just five games a year ago and spent this preseason nursing a finger injury.
Where It Lands
Both sides are true, which is the answer. Doncic already carried a flawed roster to 53 wins a year ago, averaging 33.5 points as the only Laker over 30 a game. LeBron James left for Philadelphia this summer, so the hierarchy question that used to split the locker room is gone. What isn't settled is whether four new rotation pieces, a center still working back from injury and a nearly empty draft cupboard can hold up past April. The ceiling here was never really about Doncic. It's about everyone the Lakers couldn't afford to add around him.
Is Luka Doncic the Lakers' best player now that LeBron James is gone?
Yes. Doncic averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists over 64 games last season, and LeBron James left in free agency for Philadelphia this offseason.
Do the Lakers have enough draft picks to upgrade the roster around Doncic?
Not many. The 2027 first-round pick is protected to Memphis, the 2029 first is owed to Dallas, and most of the remaining picks through 2030 are swaps or seconds owed to other teams.
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