{"id":90832,"date":"2025-08-18T08:33:52","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T08:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=90832"},"modified":"2025-08-18T08:33:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T08:33:52","slug":"breaking-lakers-made-the-steal-of-the-offseason-thanks-to-luka-doncic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=90832","title":{"rendered":"Breaking: Lakers made the steal of the offseason thanks to Luka Doncic"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"relative z-10\">\n<div class=\"article-intro mb-4 text-darkGrey font-group-large md:font-group-normal lg:font-group-large\">Luka helped the Lakers land Marcus Smart.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"mb-0 md:mb-9 relative md:mx-10 md:mb-9\">\n<figure>\n<div class=\"overflow-hidden bg-lightGrey\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_7581,h_4264\/c_fill,w_360,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01k2mwwhnmx5xbjs0erv.jpg 1x,  \nhttps:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_7581,h_4264\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01k2mwwhnmx5xbjs0erv.jpg 2x, \n    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_7581,h_4264\/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01k2mwwhnmx5xbjs0erv.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 719px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_7581,h_4264\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01k2mwwhnmx5xbjs0erv.jpg 1x, \nhttps:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_7581,h_4264\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01k2mwwhnmx5xbjs0erv.jpg 2x, \n    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_7581,h_4264\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01k2mwwhnmx5xbjs0erv.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 1079px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_7581,h_4264\/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01k2mwwhnmx5xbjs0erv.jpg 1x, \nhttps:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_7581,h_4264\/c_fill,w_2160,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01k2mwwhnmx5xbjs0erv.jpg 2x,\n    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_7581,h_4264\/c_fill,w_2160,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01k2mwwhnmx5xbjs0erv.jpg 3x\" media=\"(min-width: 1080px)\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full\" title=\"Luka Doncic, Mitch Heckart\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_7581,h_4264\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/20\/01k2mwwhnmx5xbjs0erv.jpg\" alt=\"Luka Doncic, Mitch Heckart\" width=\"7581\" height=\"4264\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 ml-1 pb-2 mt-4 md:m-3 text-darkGrey font-group-tiny\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 ml-1 pb-2 mt-4 md:m-3 text-darkGrey font-group-tiny\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>Luka Doncic, Mitch Heckart | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\" class=\"flex flex-wrap justify-center lg:justify-normal\">\n<div class=\"flex lg:mr-4 lg:w-[calc(70%-3em)] max-w-full\"><main class=\"min-w-0 flex-1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"viewablity-block\">\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">The Los Angeles Lakers are set up for a lot of success next season thanks to the way they have been able to re-shape the roster this summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">One big reason they were able to make forward-thinking moves was the work of Luka Doncic, who reportedly helped recruit Marcus Smart to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>Doncic signed his three-year extension with the franchise earlier this month, but he was working behind the scenes to help improve the team around him long before the news of his new contract broke.<\/p>\n<p>According to Yahoo Sports&#8217; Broderick Turner,\u00a0Doncic made multiple calls to Smart ahead of the news that he would be joining the Lakers on a two-year, $11 million deal.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s that kind of dedication to taking matters into his own hands that you want to see from your superstar player. We&#8217;ve already been seeing evidence that\u00a0this is who Doncic is becoming\u00a0in his new role with the Lakers, and this is just further evidence.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">Luka Doncic helped recruit Marcus Smart to the Los Angeles Lakers<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">Luka wasn&#8217;t necessarily all that involved with the decision-making when he was a member of the Dallas Mavericks, but his approach is clearly changing, and for the better.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">Doncic and Smart already had a mutual respect for each other prior to Marcus signing on in LA, and that presumably made their initial conversations that much more fruitful.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">It was those phone calls that eventually led to Smart making the decision to join the Lakers. As such, the fanbase should be extremely thankful for Doncic&#8217;s forward thinking in trying to improve the roster.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">Everyone knew that this Lakers team was going to be in big need of another strong point-of-attack defender. It was their biggest roster need following the departure of Dorian Finney-Smith, and\u00a0Smart&#8217;s defensive ingenuity should plug that hole\u00a0perfectly.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">We can all understand the appeal of good players wanting to play with number 77, but it&#8217;s another thing entirely when you talk about Luka Doncic actually going out and directly recruiting guys under his own power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">That indicates a strong desire to win, and a fantastic overall direction for this Lakers team under the tutelage of its new franchise player.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Luka helped the Lakers land Marcus Smart. Luka Doncic, Mitch Heckart | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images The Los Angeles Lakers are set up for a lot of success&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90839,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Breaking: Lakers made the steal of the offseason thanks to Luka Doncic - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=90832\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breaking: Lakers made the steal of the offseason thanks to Luka Doncic - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Luka helped the Lakers land Marcus Smart. 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