![\"Sacramento](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/sacramento-kings-v-los-angeles-lakers-los-angeles-california-october-08-8.jpg\")
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 08: Austin Reaves #15 and Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers look on against the Sacramento Kings during the first quarter in a preseason game at Crypto.com Arena on October 08, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Luke Hales\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> have a lot of pressure entering the NBA<\/a> season, but franchise superstar Luka Doncic<\/a> has confidence. Losing LeBron James<\/a> in free agency basically confirmed that this is Luka\u2019s franchise now. The Lakers fully built the roster around Doncic\u2019s skill set, but fans have questioned the overall talent level compared to other West teams. Trading for Walker Kessler<\/a> was the biggest gamble to appease Luka\u2019s desire for a defensive center. \u00a0<\/p>\n The OC Register revealed a Doncic quote<\/a> about why he expects to contend and when he started to feel that strongly:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSince the first day,\u201d Doncic said when asked when he believed the new Lakers squad could win a championship. \u201cThat simple. Since the first day everybody came together in Slovenia \u2026 I believed that we can win a championship.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Luka went out of his way to invite and plan a mini camp\/vacation for the Lakers teammates in his home country. The roster built chemistry via practicing together and became closer by traveling around the superstar\u2019s home. Doncic and Austin Reaves<\/a> are now the two top stars and must lead by example. Luka did this in Slovenia and felt more confident about the team\u2019s chances of making noise in the West.\u00a0<\/p>\n Why Luka Doncic Believes In Lakers Squad\u00a0<\/p>\n The Lakers essentially copied the Dallas Mavericks<\/a> mindset of less is more when making risky moves to downgrade talent for overall fit. Kessler was the most important piece since the Lakers lacked a young athletic center who can anchor a defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reaves is the offensive co-star, similar to what Kyrie Irving<\/a> provided for Doncic on the Mavericks when they made the NBA Finals. Other moves involved younger talents and versatile offensive skills. Luka believes in the roster since it really comes all down to his ability to lead them.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Lakers\u2019 roster only works if Doncic is putting up incredible stats and has a strong usage rate. Luka feels most comfortable playing like this and will be able to have full control here. New teammates like Quentin Grimes<\/a> and Collin Sexton<\/a> can score to help him share the workload when needed, but the rest of the new players are there to play behind Doncic.\u00a0<\/p>\n Slovenia Trip Represented New Luka Doncic Role\u00a0<\/p>\n Doncic has always enjoyed leading teams, but he was able to share the role with LeBron last season. The losses of James and fellow veteran Rui Hachimura<\/a> saw the Lakers no longer having the same roster core.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt<\/a> represent the Lakers who have had the longest tenures, despite both being relatively young. Luka realized he\u2019s the true leader of this team and did some great work by planning out the Slovenia trip.\u00a0<\/p>\n Head coach JJ Redick<\/a> believes the team\u2019s chemistry was there from the start of training camp. Slovenia likely played a huge role in this level of preparation ahead of the season. Doncic will be a clear MVP candidate if the Lakers do contend for a title and have a strong Western Conference record. The Slovenia trip is where it all started if Luka does thrive this season. \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJoey Haverford<\/a> Joey Haverford is a seasoned sports content writer with over 12 years of experience. He has covered the NBA, WNBA, MLB, NFL, and professional wrestling in the sports industry. More about Joey Haverford<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 08: Austin Reaves #15 and Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":924894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-924893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=924893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/924894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=924893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=924893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=924893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}