The Los Angeles Lakers are now firmly on Luka Donsic’s team, with the young core built around him aiming to play a complementary role.
Last season, the Los Angeles Lakers went from LeBron James’ aging victory star to Luka Donsic’s young victory star as the center of the franchise.
Doncic is just 26 years old and the Lakers don’t have to build with urgency. Still, Los Angeles failed to build a solid young core around Don Sic.
The only players on the roster younger than Doncic are often damaged Jarred Vanderbilt, role players Jake Laravia and Jaxson Hayes, two-way players Christian Koloko, Rookie Adou Thiero, and sophomore players Dalton Knecht and Bronny James.
Because the group doesn’t have star power, the Lakers young people leaning on a different identity.
Bronnie James is a very solid boundary defender despite his flaws and shortcomings. Vanderbilt and Tiero are both sturdy defenders, while Coroco is a high-level rim protector who emerged as the leader of a young group.
“I’m just used to guys defensively,” Coroco told NBA reporter Mike Trudel.
“In the last couple (summer league) game, we worked defensively and defensively as a team. We’re just getting deflections, getting steel, blocking shots. We wanted to be a crude team, causing turnovers and I was trying to be the anchor for it.”
In the summer league, Coroco averaged 3.8 shares per game and, along with Bronnie, Knecht and Vanderbilt, was expected to settle in their roles early this season, could potentially become the second string rim runner and shot blocker behind DeAndre Ayton.
“Coroco said he, Knecht, Bronny and others have been in the gym consistently with the coaching staff this summer.
During the deal that landed Donsic, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, the Lakers don’t have the draft topics they need to build the younger core of the elite.
Rather, they hope that lesser known additions will rise to the opportunity.
The Dallas Mavericks added quality defenders around Don Sic in their first five NBA seasons, reaching the final in 2024. PJ Washington, Daniel Gaford, Derek Lively II, Derrick Jones Jr.
Bronnie, Coroco, Vanderbilt and Tiero are less talented than the Mavericks group, but the Lakers are working to build players who don’t care about doing dirty work rather than star cores.
After pairing up with James over the past few seasons and chasing the superstars, they may have finally found a way to build a reliable, consistent winner.