This offseason was a big one for the Los Angeles Lakers as with LeBron James’ expected departure, they are moving on to a new era building around Luka Doncic.
That meant targeting younger players Doncic can grow with for years to come, including Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelshvili, Collin Sexton and Ziaire Williams, among others. According to reports, Doncic was involved in the Lakers’ decisions and is said to be excited about the new-look squad. The superstar later confirmed that when he was asked about L.A.’s roster for the first time.
“Yeah, I think we have a really good team. I’m very excited to start a new season. Obviously, the last season didn’t end how we wanted, so I’m very excited for a new one,” Doncic said in an interview with the Golf Channel while attending The Open Championship.
One thing that has been clear since the Lakers acquired Doncic was that they needed a young center to pair him with, and they accomplished that this offseason by add Kessler in a sign-and-trade with the Utah Jazz. He will give Doncic the lob threat he has been coveting, but also a big who can protect the paint, rebound, and maybe even knock down some outside shots.
Outside of that move, the Lakers also reunited Doncic with a pair of his former Dallas Mavericks teammates in Grimes and Jaden Hardy. They also re-signed his co-star Austin Reaves to a near-max contract before he reached free agency.
It remains to be seen how quickly the Lakers will be able to compete for a championship with these moves, but they feel their roster is better suited to fit around Doncic for years to come, and the important thing is he was on board with all of the moves they made.
Sandro Mamukelshvili believes Luka Doncic will make his life easier
Mamukelashvili has known of Doncic for a long time after growing up in Europe, and he believes the Lakers star is going to make the game a lot easier for him.
“You know Luka and me, we were born in the same year,” Mamukelashvili said. “So being in Europe I used to always hear a lot about Luka and I grew up seeing how good he was and how big he was at the early age so it’s cool to just be his teammate now. I remember there were rankings in Europe and he was always number one, so I was just trying to get there, get there. So now just being his teammate it’s amazing and I really do think he’s gonna make my life a lot easier.”
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