A new era of Los Angeles Lakers basketball is finally here. After a stunning trade ahead of the deadline that sent Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks and brought Luka Doncic to the Lakers, Doncic just made his debut in the purple and gold. And it didn’t take him long to prove that the new-look Lakers have a very unique advantage over the league.
Within the first 56 seconds of his debut with the Lakers against the Utah Jazz, Doncic threw a lob to Jaxson Hayes for a dunk. A wide smile rapidly crept across Hayes’ face as he landed from the alley-oop, as he knew the fun that was in store for him while playing with Doncic.
And this is only the beginning.
Luka Doncic makes everyone better, and he just proved that with Jaxson Hayes
See, that was the second bucket of the game. The first? Another Hayes alley-oop. The first one was thrown by LeBron James. The second, by Doncic.
At any given moment, the Lakers will have two of the best passers in NBA history on the floor, and that’s a dream for anyone capable of making runs to the rim of finding open space behind the three-point line.
But for the moment, let’s focus on Hayes. Right when the Doncic trade went through, it was made clear—the Lakers needed a center. By trading Davis, they had a massive hole at the five, as they didn’t want to run with Hayes as their go-to guy.
So, they traded for Mark Williams in a deal with the Charlotte Hornets. But shortly after the deadline window closed, the trade was rescinded, as Williams failed the Lakers’ physical exam.
Now, the Lakers have been left with scraps at the center position, led by Hayes. Yet, in spite of all of that, in Doncic’s debut game in LA, Hayes scored the team’s first four points.
And it was all thanks to James and Doncic.
Lakers fans already know much one single player can make his teammates better. James has done that his whole career. Now, not only do they have two of those players on the roster, but they have one who is 25 years old.
Just imagine if the Lakers get a center even better than Hayes this summer. A guy capable of setting harder screens, rolling to the rim with more force, and with hands good enough to catch an entire array of passes from Doncic and James.
The potential is endless. And it only took Doncic 56 seconds to prove that.
