It’s safe to say that there’s a lot of hype around the Los Angeles Lakers as we head into the 2025-26 NBA season. Most of it is because this is Luka Doncic’s first full year with the Purple & Gold, and the Lakers Nation is excited to see him in action, especially after the point guard lit up the FIBA EuroBasket 2025, emerging as the best player at the competition by leading the scoring charts. This has made many believe that this could finally be the year that he wins his first MVP title in the NBA, but there might be a roadblock in his way.

There’s no doubt that an MVP title is something that the five-time All-NBA guard would definitely want to add to his collection, but according to Insider Mike Bresnahan, none other than Luka’s best teammate, LeBron James, could hurt his chances. “I’m taking Luka Doncic, yeah. Which is it’s a little crazy. And he has LeBron kind of pulling people away from the MVP vote.” Bresnahan suggested.

“Considering that LeBron was what, sixth overall in MVP voting? Tough to say that last season. Seventh, whatever it was. I think this Luka is here. I think he has a legit shot at MVP if the Lakers finish top four in the West. Not an easy task, Ally. No doubt about it. But yeah, I think this is going to be a great year for him. And he’s got the cash, too. He’s got the extension, whatever that might have. Not that it wasn’t offered to him, but he now knows where he’s going to be for several years. That’s got to help, too.”

James did finish sixth in last season’s voting with one fourth-place vote and thirteen fifth-place votes after scoring 24.4 points and 8.2 assists. What makes this interesting is the fact that these votes came despite the Lakers having a pretty average campaign and crashing out in the first round of the playoffs against the Wolves. Enough to indicate what that standing would look like if the Purple & Gold manage to have a great year, like a deep playoff run. This is exactly what Mike Bresnahan wanted to put emphasis on.

Nonetheless, while it’s a valid point, this should not be much of an issue if Doncic is indeed the one who leads L.A. next season in scoring and other aspects. Last season, playing 28 games for the Lakers, Luka scored an average of 28.2 points. If he maintains the same playing over 70 games in the upcoming season, the MVP race will be very much within his reach. The expectations too remain high despite the LeBron blocker because in this year’s EuroBasket, Doncic was a scoring machine, taking the Slovenian team to the quarterfinals. Anyone who has watched him play and who is on the committee will place him second.

This is very important because the MVP voting carries different points for every vote. Like if a player is voted in the first place that carries 10 points, then second place 7 points, and so on. Then, at the end, the player who has the most points wins the MVP title. So, while James might also get a fair share of votes, Luka Doncic will still end up taking home the accolade that has eluded him so far in his illustrious career. While this closes the MVP problem, the Lakers still have a major headache to worry about.

The Lakers have yet to solve a major issue on their roster

The Los Angeles Lakers have been a pretty busy team this offseason, pulling off several moves to improve their roster—from signing free agent Marcus Smart to solving their center problem by acquiring De’Andre Ayton—you might think that the front office has it all figured out, right? Wrong. Well, yes, they have done some good business in the offseason, but there’s still a huge lingering issue on L.A.’s roster. Yes, JJ Redick and the rest of the Lakers staff are yet to figure out how to work with LeBron, Luka, and Austin together on the floor.

A huge reason why the Purple & Gold could not make a deep run into the playoffs was that LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves were terrible on the defensive end. This is not only what we think, Lakers Insider, Jovan Buha, also shares this thought. “I’ve been looking at what they can do with LeBron, Luka, and Austin together. And actually looking at the three-man data, they had the league’s best offense with those three on the floor together, but they also had the league’s worst defense with those three on the floor together,” he said.

That should not come as a massive surprise, given there were a lot of questions raised on Doncic and AR’s backcourt pairing last season. The Lakers might have to answer a lot of questions unless they decide to ship away Austin Reaves, which doesn’t seem likely right now, or improve both their guards’ two-way abilities. There have been no doubts regarding these two guards’ offensive capabilities, as they’ve been pretty consistent, but they are average at best when it comes to guarding and blocking.

So, that’s a headache that Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office have yet to find a solution to. With trades looking less and less likely, it won’t be too far-fetched to assume that Doncic and Reaves will have to improve their defensive game because if they don’t, it will become very difficult for the Lakers toward the business end of the season. While the Purple & Gold have made several defensive additions, including former defensive player of the year Marcus Smart, how well their backcourt duo does will be very important for L.A.’s future.