With Luka Dončić set to begin his first full season as a Laker, some believe he can reach an MVP-level this year.
At 26 years old, Luka Dončić has already done enough to warrant a Hall-of-Fame career. He has five All-Star appearances and has also made the All-NBA team the same number of times.
Luka was the NBA scoring champion in 2024, a year in which he also led the Dallas Mavericks to an appearance in the NBA Finals.
Internationally, he has also achieved a number of notable accomplishments, including winning the EuroBasket title with Slovenia and EuroLeague with Real Madrid in 2018.
The two things missing from his resume at this point include an NBA championship and an MVP award. Considering Luka appears to be in the best shape of his life entering his first full season with the Lakers after being traded by the Mavericks, experts around the league think he’ll have a shot at the MVP this upcoming season.
Tim Bontemps of ESPN released his NBA offseason survey and Luka received the third most votes for who would be the MVP of the NBA this year.
For those voting for Doncic, the expectation is that with health and a full season with the Los Angeles Lakers after his shocking midseason trade, there’s no reason that this shouldn’t be a three-player race.
“He’s in shape,” an East executive said, “and will be motivated.”
Later in the article, Luka also earned consideration as the best player in the league — receiving the only non-Nikola Jokic vote — and got votes for the best player in the NBA by the year 2030, demonstrating how much people around the league believe in Luka not just now, but for years to come.
Regarding his MVP case, it’s not a surprise Luka is up there in terms of early favorites. When he is at his best, he’s already been a top-five player in the NBA. Last year, with his calf strain and a shocking trade that happened while he was still recovering, it was unrealistic to expect Luka to be his best.
Now, he’s had time to adjust, has signed an extension with the Lakers and looked great playing for Slovenia in EuroBasket, earning himself All-Star Five honors.
He’ll have all eyes on him with the Lakers now, which will most certainly help his MVP cause if he plays as expected.
Luka is now the future of the franchise and will have every motivation to be his best self during this upcoming season. That’s a scary proposition for the league and a joyous one for Lakers fans.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
Category: General Sports
