LOS ANGELES — When the Lakers first acquired Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in early February, one of the main talking points was how good the team’s offense could theoretically be in light of Doncic being paired with LeBron James, the league’s all-time leading scorer, and Austin Reaves, who was in the midst of his first 20-point season.
It was especially a topic of discussion around the league during the offseason, with Doncic having a summer to get his mind and body right after the shocking trade to Los Angeles, and the star trio having time to work on their chemistry.
And despite James having yet to play a game in 2025-26 as he works his way back from sciatica, the Lakers’ offense has thrived through the early parts of the season.
The Lakers (7-2) went into Thursday with the league’s fifth-best offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions) at 117.7, and the league’s most efficient scoring offense (62.6% true shooting – a formula that incorporates free throws and higher-value 3-point shots).
While they have two of the NBA’s top six scorers in Doncic (league-leading 40 points per game, 9.2 assists) and Reaves (31.1 ppg, 9.3 apg) leading the charge, the Lakers also have four other players averaging at least 10 points: Deandre Ayton (17.5), Rui Hachimura (16.7), Jake LaRavia (12.1) and Marcus Smart (10.3).
How have the Lakers been so prolific offensively despite James being sidelined? And what could the offense look like after he makes his season debut?
PICK-AND-ROLL MAESTROS
After initially utilizing an offense that was less reliant on ball screens and emphasized using Anthony Davis as the offensive “hub” via touches on the blocks, elbows and initiating offense from behind the 3-point arc with five-out spacing, the Lakers became a more pick-and-roll oriented team a fifth of the way through 2024-25.
That was especially the case when they traded Davis to the Mavericks as part of the deal for Doncic, one of the league’s best pick-and-roll ball handlers since he entered the league in 2018. And the Lakers have leaned on pick and rolls even more to start this season.
The Lakers have averaged 21.7 possessions per game with ending offensive possessions via the ball handler in the pick and roll, which is the league’s third-highest mark.
And they’ve been the NBA’s most prolific and efficient team on this play type, generating 1.16 points per possession from the pick-and-roll handler and 25.1 points per game, both of which are league-leading marks.
Doncic and Reaves have led the Lakers in this area as the league’s most efficient high-usage pick-and-roll ball handlers.
Among the 21 players who have averaged at least six possessions as the pick-and-roll ball-handler to close out the possession, Reaves (1.24) and Doncic (1.18) are Nos. 1 and 2 in the points per possession generated from the play type.
Doncic has been an efficient, high-usage pick-and-roll ball-handler every season of his career. Reaves has been an efficient pick-and-roll ball handler since entering the league in 2021, and has shown he can handle higher usage, nearly doubling his pick-and-roll responsibilities from last season (5.6 possessions to 10).
The Lakers don’t just rely on simple high pick and rolls to put Doncic and Reaves in decision-making positions: they consistently run Stack actions (a pick and roll combined with a backscreen for the picker as they roll to the hoop) and double drag (consecutive ball-screens for the ball-handler), among other plays.
“Going into this year, I felt like we [needed] to play to the strengths of our best players,” Coach JJ Redick said. “And we certainly attempted to do that last year. When you have one of the best pick-and-roll players in the league and in the world [in Doncic], you should run pick and roll. And AR has proven his chops as an operator and creator as well.”
BIG MAN VERSATILITY
As Redick likes to put it, the effectiveness of a pick and roll comes down to both parties – the ball-handler and screen setter – doing their jobs.
And the Lakers’ primary big men – Ayton and Hayes – have done what they’ve been asked.
As the starting big man, Ayton’s chemistry with Doncic and Reaves was fast-tracked after initially having hiccups in the pick and roll during preseason, when there were regularly errant lob attempts.
But Doncic and Reaves have picked up on Ayton’s preference for rolling into the midrange area, where the 27-year-old big man is particularly efficient as a shooter and scorer.
“It’s the patience of the guard and it’s the big reading the screening angle and reading his own defender,” Redick said of the intricacies of the pick and roll. “Is he up to touch? Is he in a shock? Is he in a blitz? Is he in a deep drop. And sort of dancing together. That’s maybe a little weird, but it really is a little bit of a dance in pick and roll. And Deandre’s been a good dance partner so far.”
The chemistry for Hayes with Reaves and Doncic has been more natural after playing with them last season, with Hayes regularly being on the receiving end of lobs from both players.
Hayes is also a reliable kick-out passer in the short roll, leading to 3-pointers or keeping the ball moving to keep defenses off-balance.
The Lakers are averaging the fourth-most paint points (55.8), fifth-most free throws (23.7) and are the league’s best midrange shooting team. The proficiency on the intermediate shots might not hold up for an entire season, but it’s also a strength of theirs that they’ve leaned into, countering what opponents are usually willing to give up.
WHAT NEXT?
A common question is what will the Lakers’ offense look like once James returns.
Last season, albeit in a small sample, provided glimpses of James’ willingness to let Doncic and Reaves run the show as ball handlers while James filled in the gaps in other areas and picked his spots as a ball handler.
Redick has mentioned “utility plays” that would involve Doncic, Reaves and James operating off each other when they share the court.
“There’s a lot of stuff that we will eventually get to with LeBron,” Redick said. “There’s certain things that we’re using now as utility plays that once we have LeBron back, we’ll use more. Because he’s such a good screener, he’s such a good passer, he’s obviously really good when the ball’s in his hands as well. So just constantly trying to tweak it just to allow us to create advantages with our best players.”
The Lakers often used the trio in Horns alignments last season, as well as Ram screens (player screens for the player who is about to set a ball screen) and Stack actions. They’ll likely lean on those even more once James is available.
“[The offense] can be way better,” Doncic said. “We got LeBron coming back, obviously, I don’t know when, but I feel like we have a lot of improvement left in the offense.”
