As the new NBA season gets going in just a few days, there are multiple intriguing teams across the landscape of the league. This is due to the parity that the NBA has seen in recent years, and it has made for great basketball on the floor throughout the season. One of the teams that has the biggest intrigue around it is the Los Angeles Lakers. Los Angeles is led by stars Luka Doncic and LeBron James, and the team is determined to find more success this season.
The Lakers were bounced out in the first round of the playoffs last year, and the front office has improved the roster for this title run. However, the Lakers are also looking to the future of the team, specifically for when James calls it a career.
James has spoken at length about retirement in recent years, and it could be coming soon. However, nobody other than him knows exactly when that will happen, and it has left the Lakers in the dark a little. But the team is looking ahead to when he does leave, and who the team could use as the co-star for Doncic going forward. Los Angeles is all about star players, and they will surely get one to play next to Doncic.
In this situation, the big question is who the team could get to pair alongside Doncic. This franchise has a certain allure to it, and many players likely would love to play for the Lakers.
Los Angeles Lakers Land Nikola Jokic Down the Line
With the Lakers looking around, one option to consider is star center Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. Jokic has been rumored to be on the list of candidates for the Lakers to replace James with, but it does seem like a pipe dream for the team.
Jokic will likely stay with the Nuggets for his entire career, but in the case that Denver were to falter in the next year or two, that could open the door. The veteran can sign an extension next offseason with the Nuggets, and likely will, but that doesn’t shut down all trade rumors. The star center could pair alongside Doncic to create one of the best duos that the NBA has ever seen. Jokic and Doncic have an admiration for one another, and this could also be a draw for each to play alongside the other.
Both Jokic and Doncic can run an offense almost to perfection, and it would be a lethal pick-your-poison situation for opposing defenses to guard this team. It’s something that could intrigue the two stars to finally team up, and the Lakers could benefit greatly in terms of overall competitiveness.
Los Angeles knows Jokic very well from multiple playoff matches over the years, and if they were to land him, it could be a real game-changer for the franchise. Not only would the Lakers be adding a star to the mix, but they would be completely decimating a rival in the Western Conference as well. Even if the likelihood of Jokic leaving the Nuggets for the Lakers seems pretty low, we can’t completely rule anything out in the wild world of the NBA these days. Many players that were once seen as untradeable or unlikely to leave their respective teams have now done so, making this one of the more interesting eras in the history of basketball.
