LeBron James was pretty bummed when Luka Dončić missed a free-throw with 3:05 remaining in Friday’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. It meant that Dončić’s second free throw would only take him to 49 points, and with the game in hand, he was removed before he could score his 50th. The 50-point milestone is extremely rare in the NBA. The fact that it only happened on 18 occasions last year is worth celebrating. When Dončić came up short, the Lakers probably envisioned a pretty long wait before their next chance.That wait lasted all of two days.With Dončić sidelined due to injury along with almost 60% of the total Laker payroll against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, Austin Reaves exploded for the best game of his career: 51 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and a badly-needed 127-120 victory with Dončić set to miss at least a week.
Luka Dončić injury: Lakers superstar to miss at least a week with left finger sprain, leg contusion
Jasmyn Wimbish
In the last season, only Denver Nuggets had multiple players score 50 points in one game. The Lakers have one free-throw left to make it in their first 3 games. Oh, and in their season opener, Dončić scored 43. The Lakers now own the top three scoring games in regulation by players for the 2025-2026 season. They are not outliers either. Reaves scored 26 points in the opener and 25 against Minnesota while taking a backseat to Dončić. From February to the end of last year, he averaged just over 23 points per match. His professional growth has been fairly linear. In just four NBA seasons, his average per-game score has increased from 7.3 to 13.9 to 20.2.
In a similar way, his assist numbers have exploded. Through three games, he has scored 29 goals. Of course, we are dealing with a very small sample size for the 2025-2026 year, and the Lakers have had to deal with many injuries. This is a logical progression, based on Reaves’ development over his career. He appears to be ready to contend for an All Star selection. Dončić is an MVP candidate whose credentials speak for themselves. The Lakers have the NBA’s most potent offensive backcourt. We have to deal with the player that hasn’t. James is expected to make his season debut in mid-November, as he recovers after suffering from sciatica. He has a history of rushing to the field. He played 31 minutes in March last year, when he returned after his longest absence, which was seven games. When he comes back, he will be back. The Lakers probably won’t have a period of easing in. The Lakers will have to determine his role well in advance.
Then things get complicated. James has the sixth highest career usage rate of any NBA player. He’s led his team in 19 of his 22 NBA seasons, and when he hasn’t, he’s deferred to Hall of Famers: 2011 Dwyane Wade, 2017 Kyrie Irving, and Dončić last season. This has always been the correct course of action. You would never give the ball away to anyone else when you have LeBron on your team. Well, this Laker’s team is the first team to offer compelling reasons for doing so. In December, he will turn 41. How many quadragenarians, other than LeBron James, have you seen hold a significant share of possessions in an NBA offense? Skinny Luka looks downright unstoppable. Reaves doesn’t lag behind. This was a reasonable expectation going into the year, as their value is almost exclusively on the offensive end. James is the exception. LeBron excels at handling the ball, but we forget how good he is in other areas. He could easily become a supercharged Draymond green. He is an excellent screener, passer and defender. These are qualities the Lakers require more than just on-ball offense. Dončić and Reaves seemingly have that specific area under control.
The best version of the Laker team is one where James takes a slight backseat on offense. He’s still LeBron. He’ll continue to score 18-20 per night, because, well, you can’t stop him. Most of these points will come from spot-ups and transitions, rather than direct pick-and roll creation. James has acknowledged this in some degree.James admitted to spending a lot time working on his catch-and-shoot 3 pointers at the media day. Understanding how to make the most out of my time without the ball by moving into space. Luka and AR are obvious. [Austin Reaves] Going to spend a great deal of time on the ball. …We have a lot of guys that can handle the ball, so how can I still be effective on a team where I don’t have to handle the ball as much?”JJ Redick has been talking about this since before even the Dončić trade.LeBron is a smart player and I believe using him as an screener and finding way to get the ball to specific spots on floor where he could be a scorer and facilitator, that’s my definition of being off the balls,” he said on the Lowe Post in September 2024.
This transition has been planned for a long time. James rarely took catch-and shoot 3s when he was in Miami or Cleveland. However, his volume increased significantly after signing with the Lakers. In 2022 and 203, when he had to take 3.5 per game to accommodate Russell Westbrook, the number peaked. The number has decreased a bit over the years, but the 2.9 shots he took each game in last season’s tracking period still represented an important jump compared to any of his previous seasons before he joined the Lakers. It’s a change he can make, if he wants to. But that’s what the question is. LeBron James’s basketball style hasn’t changed much in the past few years, so it will be hard for him to adjust to a new one. James played just 29 minutes the first night of the 2023-24 NBA season when Darvin ham tried to limit him to save his body. This effort only lasted a few days, because he played 35 minutes two nights later. He averaged 35.3 minutes for the entire season. James is a versatile player who can adapt to any role or style. However, getting him to accept change has been a challenge. This is understandable, especially when you are arguably the greatest basketball player to ever live. But it will be a key to the Laker’s season. James’s decision to opt into his contract during the off-season made it clear that his goal was to win championships as he neared retirement. The best hope the Lakers have of doing so is trusting Dončić and Reaves to handle the offense while James takes care of the things they can’t.
The team had hoped for a higher level of offensive performance, but they’ve exceeded expectations. They’re not going to be top-level defenders. And most of their offensive potential comes when they have the ball. They’re limited. James isn’t. He’s capable of doing almost anything, even though he may not be able to do it as often as he used to or with the same intensity as he was in his younger years. The key to his season, as his younger team-mates rise up the ranks, will be his ability to accept the fact that he can do things his teammates cannot.
2025-10-27 05:13:48
