No longer conservative? Doncic s European Championships shines, Lakers may give up cautious strategies and focus on the present

Translator's note: The original text was published in The Athletic. The data in the article were as of the time of the original text (September 11 local time). The dates and times involved were all local time

After venting the frustration that caused his defensive end to lose pace and his aggressiveness on the offensive end due to foul trouble, Luka Doncic walked off the court in Riga Latvia, ushering in his first true offseason.

"Pride." He wrote in a photo of his teammate of the Slovenian men's basketball national team. In the European Championship, few people believe that this team can advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, they forced the German men's basketball team, which had never lost, to a desperate situation, and finally lost 91-99 on Wednesday.

Now, at least at this moment, Doncic could breathe a sigh of relief.

Shortly after his first season for the Lakers ended with a first-round playoff loss to the Timberwolves, Doncic almost immediately began to reshape and was committed to a strict diet and fitness program. He returned to the United States to showcase his progress and signed a three-year early renewal with the Lakers worth about $165 million.

Now, after leading the Slovenian men's basketball team to a dominant performance in the European Championship, Doncic can turn his attention to the Lakers. Moreover, after seeing Doncic's excellent form when playing for the national team, the Lakers are more confident in building a team around him.

According to team and league sources, as both sides jointly opened this new chapter, the Lakers' stance on strengthening the lineup in the new season has changed.

While the Lakers had rejected earlier this summer the deal would allow the team to undertake contracts that lasted until after the 2025-26 season, Doncic's years of commitment have already made the Lakers more aggressive in roster reinforcing.

One area that the Lakers are focusing on is the upgrade of the wings, and they need more offense and defense talents in this position. The Lakers weren't interested in players like the Heat, earlier this summer, but now, as long as the price is right, he has become a more ideal candidate. Wiggins, who will turn 31 next February, will earn $28.2 million this year and has a $30.1 million player option for the 2026-27 season. Marc Stein linked the Lakers to Wiggins in a personal newsletter earlier this week.

The Lakers still value their only tradable first-round pick (2031 or 2032) as an asset for more heavy trades in the future. However, they have a series of expiring contracts and a first-round pick from last year Dalton Knector, which could be packaged together if another team wants to clear the space.

It is not clear whether such a chip can be exchanged for Wiggins, who proved that he could be a valuable member of the championship team when he played for the Warriors in 2022. It is also unclear whether the Lakers think Wiggins is a more significant upgrade than Hachimura Hiroshi, or ideally have both Hachimura Hiroshi and Wiggins to strengthen the outside.

The Lakers may also want to take a look at the lineup run-in of new players DeAndre Ayton, Jack Laravia and Marcus Smart before using their limited trading assets.

But Doncic's performance in the European Championships - during which he fully tested his physique after losing weight to counter those defensive tactics set to stop him - once again proved his position at the top of the world basketball player pyramid.

If Giannis Antetokounmpo had not performed some magical performances, Doncic would have become the scoring champion of this championship. "How to do it" may be more important than the achievement itself. Doncic played significantly faster when facing double-teams and breaking into the penalty area, and he made good use of his size in the penalty area.

Last season at the Lakers, he never really played out in this aspect of the game. While recovering from injuries, Doncic seems to have not completely escaped the impact of that deal, with his two-point shooting percentage last season being just a career-worst 49.3%.

In Europe this summer, Doncic averaged 34.7 points per game, shooting more than 62% from two-pointers (and three-pointers were only 32.1%). He entered the penalty area very quickly on the offensive end and was equally agile on the defensive end. Before failing to complete the steal against the German men's basketball team, he had at least two steals in each of the first six games of the European Championship.

Doncic's contract, improved physical condition and performance in the European Championships together send a clear signal: planning for the future may hinder the Lakers from seizing the opportunity in front of them.

Whether the Lakers will give up the caution they have taken when building their existing squad around short-term and expiring contracts is still unknown. However, everything they have seen from Doncic over the past month is causing the team management to reassess the situation.

Author: Dan Woike

Translator: GWayNe