Everyone — NBA diehards and casual fans alike — was stunned when the Mavericks pulled the most unpopular move of the season: trading Luka Doncic, a generational superstar, to the Los Angeles Lakers.
We also all know 2 more things:
1. Nikola Jokic has been carrying the Nuggets all season long and has been dominating on the basketball court this season.
2. The Lakers need a center badly. In my latest NBA article for Sports Square, my own publication, I said that "they needed size", and the fact that they lack that could lead to their downfall in the playoffs.
So, let's have another team in the NBA, make a stupid trade, just for fun and an experiment. The Nuggets have traded Nikola Jokic for Jaxson Hayes, because they want their center to have 1 extra inch in height. What would happen?
Well, first off, this would be the starting 5:
PG: Luka Doncic
SG: Austin Reaves
SF: Rui Hachimura
PF: LeBron James
C: Nikola Jokic
That is an absolute killer lineup.
First, let’s break down how dominant this new Lakers team could be, starting with pure scoring output. Here's how the starting fives across the West stack up in average points per game:
Thunder: 90.6
Rockets: 82.3
Lakers without Jokic: 92.7
Lakers with Jokic: 115.7
Nuggets with Jokic: 99.3
Nuggets without Jokic: 76.5
Clippers: 89.3
Timberwolves: 78.7
Warriors: 72.9
Grizzlies: 80.4
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With Jokic, the Lakers go all the way up to a staggering 115.7 PPG. 23 points more than their current lineup, which tops the West.
Yes, points aren't everything, and Jokic certainly contributes in so many other ways, so let's take a look at assists and rebounds.
Without Jokic, adding up all the assists from the Lakers' starters, they currently average 23.9 a game. With Jokic, they would average 33.1 a game. a 38.2% increase from what they had without him. On the rebounds side of things, without Jokic, they would average 30.2, but with him, they would average 38.1, a 26.9% increase. A few extra rebounds could go a long way.
So, the question is, how far will the Lakers go if they had Jokic in this year's playoffs?
In that same NBA Playoffs Preview article I wrote for my publication, I had the Lakers beating the Timberwolves 4-1, but eventually falling to the Houston Rockets. If the Lakers had Jokic in this year's playoffs, they would beat the Timberwolves 4-0, beat the Rockets 4-1, and then beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 4-3. They would go on to play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals and win 4-3.
A little change to this Lakers team can take them a long way. That change doesn't necessarily have to be Jokic. It can be anyone. It was fun, though, to explore this possibility of what would happen if Jokic went to the Lakers.
So here’s the real question — how far could the Lakers go with any legit big next to Luka and LeBron? Jokic is the dream, but who’s the realistic target L.A. should go after this summer? Drop your takes below!
Smayan Srikanth
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Robbin Marx
NBA Fantasy Analyst
Experience: NBC Sports - Rotoworld, HashTag Basketball, Bleav Network
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The Nuggets have traded Nikola Jokic for Jaxson Hayes, because they want their center to have 1 extra inch in height. What would happen? the nuggets went to a bar and drank too much, then this happened
I don't think Jokic is going to the Lakers anytime soon, but that would for sure be cool as I am a die-hard Lakers fan! (And there's no chance it can happen until after LeBron retires.)