BOMBSHELL: Lakers' Secret Weapon Could DESTROY the NBA - Rivals Are Already Panicking
Lakers must embrace painfully obvious advantage to maximize Luka and LeBron
The Los Angeles Lakers have a clear path to success with Doncic and James...
The Los Angeles Lakers cannot waste the advantage they have with Luka Doncic and LeBron James being a part of the same offense. JJ Redick will need to lean into going mismatch hunting a ton in the 2025-26 season.
"It could certainly be better," Jovan Buha said of the fit between Doncic and James. "I personally would like to see more two-man game. ... There were plenty of times they could have tried to target [mismatches].
On the episode of Buha's Block, the former beat writer for The Athletic explained there are certainly matchups where it will not make a lot of sense, highlighting the Orlando Magic as an example. However, there are others where it definitely will.
Buha pointed out opportunities like the Indiana Pacers, with Andrew Nembhard primarily guarding Doncic and Pascal Siakam being put on James, where the Lakers should be hunting the mismatch more aggressively. That offseason priority for the offense should not be lost on Redick this summer.
Doncic and James pairing is only as great as their deployment
There is no doubt that both Doncic and James are two of the best offensive engines that the NBA has ever seen. The 40-year-old in that duo is certainly further removed from that status, but LeBron remains more than effective even in his advanced age.
The challenge with mismatch hunting using Doncic and James will be the fact that often they will draw similar molds of defenders. This was a similar issue, at times, when it came to the two-man game of LeBron and Anthony Davis at times.
The same defenders tasked with guarding James can often be found effective on his superstar teammates. The example given above by Buha highlighted an instance where Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner would be the two guarding the veteran superstar and Doncic.
When moments like those come up, getting a switch does not serve a big purpose. However, not everyone will have the personnel to deploy those kinds of coverages.
Buha pointed out how instances of smaller point of attack defenders can create mismatch opportunities for an advantageous James post-up. Likewise, bringing a less mobile defender onto the switch can allow Doncic to exploit that coverage in space.
A lot of the conversation this offseason will come from what Rob Pelinka can do to bring in external sources of help to the Lakers. However, necessary internal improvements like this one from Redick and his staff will be just as important.