Colin Cowherd reminded La Lakers that Luka Doncic is the person he was before and that he must avoid the All-Star skill set.
Luka Doncic has become a major topic of discussion among NBA circles this week. The Los Angeles Lakers Guards sparked quite a bit of buzz with one simple video.
NBA fans were happy to see Luka Donsic working hard on the video that went viral. Like his recent appearance at the Real Madrid game, fans’ responses were broadly positive.
Donsic is doing exactly what Gary Payton and Paul Pierce told him, and seems to take his efforts, health and conditioning seriously.
The Lakers are hoping to build a roster around Luka Donsic while hoping he will show some improvement in his defense. But NBA analyst Colin Cowhard believes the Lakers should accept him for who he is.
Colin Cowherd spoke on his show about what the Los Angeles Lakers should do with Luka Donsic. First of all, Cowherd believes the Lakers must embrace the harsh reality.
Unlike some of the greatest Lakers players of all time, Luka Doncic won’t be a strong advocate. He compared Donsic to Carmelo Anthony. Carmelo Anthony had made similar criticisms during his career.
“Before Luka, the eight of the best Lakers of all time had one thing in common. They had a real defense…”
“It’s friction with Luka. He’s a much better version of Carmelo Anthony.
“Luca, he will never become a coordinated and sculpted Adonis. He will never become a D-Wade. He will never become LeBron James. That’s not who he is.
So what can the Lakers do to fix this? Cowherd pointed out that Golden State Warriors embraced Stephen Curry’s defensive limitations and surrounded him with great defenders.
If the Lakers want to succeed with Luka, they must be honest about his defensive limits.
“He’s a combination of Stephen Curry and Carmelo. It’s not his style, but the fact that he’s never tweaked or become a great defensive player.”
“That’s not his way of thinking because attacking is so easy for him. But what the Warriors did to get the title at Steph is that they admit that he’s not.”
“Not only the obvious… the Warriors were totally honest about Steph, so they went and got Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
“Even Kevin Durant is an aspiring defender. Can the Lakers be honest and admit that he will never become a great defensive player?
Cowhard’s advice surrounding Donsic with the right players is solid. Magic Johnson offered similar advice to the Lakers when discussing how LeBron James and Luka Donsic could occupy the best position to win the championship.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, the process is not easy. Landing Luka Doncic in February has really been annoying some teams. They plan to overpay the Lakers for any property.
Rob Perinka has a lot to do ahead of the important offseason. How will the Lakers president respond as the decks piled up against him? We have to wait and see how he gets things done.