![\"Los](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_465,y_118,w_2724,h_1532\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/20\/01kedz2xwshyccksbmbs.jpg\")
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The Los Angeles Lakers<\/strong> chose to rest LeBron James<\/strong> on the second night of a back-to-back, and the result made one thing painfully clear: the Lakers do not have enough around Luka Don\u010di\u0107 to seriously contend for a championship<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Los Angeles fell 107\u201391<\/strong> to the San Antonio Spurs<\/strong> on Wednesday night, and while the final score suggests a comfortable Spurs win, it undersells just how dependent the Lakers were on their superstar guard. Don\u010di\u0107 finished with 38 points and 10 assists<\/strong>, but he was essentially the entirety of the Lakers\u2019 offense. When he sat, everything collapsed.<\/p>\n That is not a sustainable formula for a team with championship aspirations.<\/p>\n Head coach JJ Redick<\/strong> is carefully managing LeBron\u2019s workload in an effort to preserve the 41-year-old for the postseason. That strategy makes sense in isolation, but Wednesday night illustrated the glaring downside: without LeBron, the Lakers simply don\u2019t function offensively<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Compounding the issue, Los Angeles was also without Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Adou Thiero<\/strong>. Winning an NBA game down three starters is difficult for any team, but the Lakers\u2019 lack of depth was especially glaring against San Antonio.<\/p>\n In the first half alone, Don\u010di\u0107 rested for nearly four minutes\u2014and during that stretch, the Lakers failed to score a single point<\/strong>. For a supposed contender, that is an alarming red flag.<\/p>\n By the end of the game, the numbers told an even more damning story:<\/p>\n Luka accounted for 41.7% of the Lakers\u2019 total points<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n He assisted on 62.5% of their made baskets<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n That level of reliance on one player is unsustainable over an 82-game season, let alone four playoff rounds.<\/p>\n Without Don\u010di\u0107 on the floor, the Lakers had no plan.<\/p>\n Gabe Vincent<\/strong> and Nick Smith Jr.<\/strong> struggled to generate anything off the bench. Marcus Smart<\/strong>, while valuable defensively, was unable to consistently create quality looks for teammates. There was no secondary engine, no offensive safety valve, and no rhythm.<\/p>\n When LeBron and Reaves are unavailable, the Lakers simply don\u2019t have another player capable of stabilizing the offense. That problem has been evident all season\u2014but Wednesday night put it under a spotlight.<\/p>\n Fans have long called for the Lakers to add a 3-and-D wing<\/strong>, but that\u2019s only part of the issue. Los Angeles has multiple roster holes:<\/p>\n A true upgrade at center<\/p>\n<\/li>\n A more reliable backup guard<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Additional depth across the rotation<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n The harsh reality is that the Lakers cannot address all of these needs<\/strong> before the February 5 trade deadline<\/strong>. They have only one tradable first-round pick<\/strong>, which places enormous pressure on general manager Rob Pelinka<\/strong> to get the move right.<\/p>\n As currently constructed, the list of players the Lakers can reasonably trust in a playoff series is uncomfortably short:<\/p>\n Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/p>\n<\/li>\n LeBron James<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Austin Reaves<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Rui Hachimura<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Marcus Smart<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Jake LaRavia<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Deandre Ayton<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Seven players are not enough to win four playoff series. JJ Redick cannot be expected to survive the postseason with such limited flexibility, especially when injuries inevitably arise.<\/p>\n What makes the loss even more concerning is that San Antonio didn\u2019t even play particularly well<\/strong>. The Spurs shot poorly for stretches and never looked dominant offensively\u2014but it didn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n The Lakers simply didn\u2019t have the talent to keep up without their stars doing everything.<\/p>\n Los Angeles is still 23\u201312<\/strong> and sitting comfortably in the top six of the Western Conference<\/strong>, but there are warning signs beneath the surface. The Lakers are flirting with a negative point differential<\/strong>, an unusual marker for a true contender.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve been excellent in the clutch, but relying on late-game heroics every night is not a viable long-term strategy.<\/p>\n The message from Wednesday night was unmistakable.<\/p>\n The Lakers must<\/strong> make a trade before the deadline to improve the roster around Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and LeBron James<\/strong>. This isn\u2019t a reactionary take\u2014it\u2019s been evident for much of the season, and games like this only reinforce it.<\/p>\n Pelinka has a difficult task ahead. The assets are limited, the needs are many, and the margin for error is slim. But this is why general managers are paid what they are.<\/p>\n If the Lakers stand pat, they will continue to ask Luka and LeBron to do too much\u2014and eventually, that approach will fail.<\/p>\n Stay tuned. The clock is ticking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lakers\u2019 Lack of Depth Exposed Without LeBron as Luka Doncic Carries Too Heavy a Load The Los Angeles Lakers chose to rest LeBron James on the second… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":136395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nLuka Did Everything\u2014and It Still Wasn\u2019t Enough<\/h3>\n
![\"What](\"https:\/\/assets.newsweek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2246975254.jpg?w=1600&h=900&q=88\")
<\/p>\n\n
The Offense Dies When Luka Sits<\/h3>\n
Trade Deadline Pressure Is Mounting<\/h3>\n
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Spurs Win Comfortably Despite Off Night<\/h3>\n
![\"LeBron](\"https:\/\/legacymedia.sportsplatform.io\/image\/upload\/x_174,y_113,w_1498,h_997,c_crop\/v1734022815\/tqanaqndtmum93gmqyzk.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Verdict: A Trade Is No Longer Optional<\/h3>\n