When the Los Angeles Lakers shockingly acquired Luka Doncic, their timeline shifted to building around him with a goal of competing for championships for years to come.
In the three transaction cycles since though, the Lakers have largely failed to do that, making this summer an extremely important one as they have plenty of cap space and assets to build a contender around their 27-year-old superstar.
Doncic will be involved in the roster-building process, and during his European Jordan Brand tour, he spoke with Drafteados about the type of players he would like to be surrounded by on the Lakers, as translated by Luka Updates:
– What qualities do the players next to you need to have so you can perform at your level?
“I think mainly shooters and a big man who can run the pick-and-roll and jump so I can pass to him. If I have shooters, they won’t double me as much and it helps me out.”
YT/DrafteadosNBA pic.twitter.com/pi3tOAuxj3
— Luka Updates (@LukaUpdates) June 16, 2026
Anyone who has watched Doncic knows these are the type of players he has had success with in the past. A big man who can defend the rim, rebound and serve as a lob threat in pick-and-rolls is essential for Doncic. He thrived with Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford in Dallas, and has similarly built quality chemistry with Jaxson Hayes in L.A.
The center position should be a huge priority for the Lakers this summer, but so should finding 3-and-D players on the wing, as Doncic also alluded to. While Doncic is always looking to score, he also has a unique ability to playmake out of double teams and find open shooters.
All that to say that Rob Pelinka certainly has his work cut out for him this offseason as even though the Lakers have plenty of assets to work with, quality two-way players don’t just grow on trees.
Danny Green agrees with Luka Doncic
Former Lakers wing Danny Green is seemingly in agreement with Doncic as he recently outlined what type of players the Lakers need to add this offseason.
“Defensive guys, right? Defense and shooters,” Green said on ESPN LA radio. “That’s no real secret or science to it. If you wanna have a great winning team, you need some superstars and you need a good quality big man that can rebound and some 3-and-D guys around him. If you can get that at a good price, you have a good chance of being successful and winning some championships.”
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