When LeBron James praised Luka Doncic’s offensive skills, “he plays the game how I’ve always wanted to inspire the generation to play the game. There’s nothing predetermined,” It made sense. The Slovenian has often garnered praise for his offensive skills, which allowed him to average 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 7.7 assists in the 2024-25 season. Now, having gotten into much better shape this summer, and reportedly appearing quicker on his feet and more mobile during the EuroBasket preparations, the Lakers star is raising expectations. However, to be better than he was in the previous season, two NBA insiders want Luka Doncic to focus on one particular thing.

‘Yahoo Sports’s Kevin O’Connor and NBA writer Wosny Lambre recently touched base on Luka Doncic’s status during a recent segment of ‘The Kevin O’Connor Show’. During the same time, Lambre stated that “the hardest things to defend are those that are unpredictable.” That goes without saying, given the fact that the one in the picture has a wide range of attacks under his control. But does Luka have it? Lambre himself stressed it.

“If Luka Doncic can become more diversified in his attack, thereby being more unpredictable, making defenses more unbalanced, and like, ‘oh shoot, what do we do? ’ Like, ‘is this guy going to bully us and take us to the rack?’ Is he going to pop up for that famous step back? Like, he has a variety of things he can attack the defense with. And… that’s why it’s important”. Similarly, ‘The Athletic’s Jovan Buha also highlighted why Luka Doncic stands out when it comes to being a pick-and-roll practitioner.

When Luka receives a ball screen, most defenses reportedly send at least two defenders or more to the ball. This opens an array of options that the Slovenian can reportedly choose from, like hitting the roller to finding a weak-side cutter, or a shooter to swinging the ball to the weak-side safety valve. Though the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025-26 NBA tournament, Luka Doncic’s offense still received praise. In the first 2 games of the Lakers-Timberwolves series, the Slovenian was hunting Rudy Gobert on isolations, and also reportedly had his way against Jaden McDaniels, too.

However, that series, and the rest of the player’s season run, proved just how much of Doncic’s offense is heavily predicated on the pick-and-roll and step-back jumper. Former Mavs coach Rick Carlisle even tried once to convince a then-rookie Doncic to stop relying so heavily on stepback 3-pointers. That, as reported, was unsuccessful. More recently, Doncic’s shot selection in a loss vs. the Denver Nuggets back in late 2024 was criticized, as his reported insistence on shooting flat-footed step-back triples led to air balls and front-rimming misses. This lapse led the two NBA insiders to push the player to a more ‘diverse’ offense:

“It’s not just like ‘we want to be get off our lawn’ guys, KOC and be like, ‘Stop with the jump shots,’” Lambre added. “Like, it’s not that. It’s like you need to be well-balanced in order to be most effective.” Kevin O’Connor agreed and added that “Sure. And I think with him, of course, he’s been an excellent playoff performer, but sustaining it over the full duration of the playoffs at the highest levels in the finals, having diversity on offense matters. And obviously, being able to survive on defense matters a lot, too”.

Luka Doncic worked hard during the off-season to improve his conditioning, no doubt. According to IBT, he potentially lost around 22 to 26 pounds over the last few months. Many were impressed, but not Stephen A. Smith, as he believed that “there is a difference between getting in shape in the offseason and staying in shape during the season. And that’s something that we have to monitor moving forward”. In the off-chance Luka gains back his weight, then a more ‘diverse’ offense can assist him.

Therefore, judging from their remarks, Kevin O’Connor and Wosny Lambre wish to see a more diverse and versatile version of Luka Doncic. However, if one were to ask one of Doncic’s rivals, then the 26-year-old boasts enough versatility.

Franz Wagner praises Luka Doncic’s ability to manipulate the game

Luka Doncic is currently preparing to represent Team Slovenia at the EuroBasket 2025 games. The player, with his lean look, has been making quite an impression at the preparation games. He notably recorded 19 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists in 24 minutes of play during a friendly match between Slovenia and Germany. And then 28 and 17 points against GB and Serbia, respectively. It isn’t clear what impression these performances by Luka left on the teams, but it did impress at least one player from the German squad.

Franz Wagner, a player for Team Germany who also serves as a small forward for the Orlando Magic, recently participated in an interview with FIBA Basketball. During the same time, he admitted that, “There are few players in the world as versatile or who can manipulate the game as well as he does offensively. You can’t just defend him with one player. You have to switch up the looks that you give him. And also be okay with him making some tough looks.”

Wagner realized that when going against a force like the Slovenians, one has to improvise. As a result, he also added that “Just try to make it hard and play against him one against five. And sometimes be okay and tip your hat with some tough plays”.

Going into the 2025-26 season, there have reportedly been credible concerns that Doncic, James, and Austin Reaves will coalesce on offense. Doubts have been raised about whether Doncic and Reaves are redundant for them to work well together on the court at the same time. To fix this, Luka Doncic has been working. As reported by Lakers insider Anthony Irwin, Doncic is working on his ability to hit outside shots off passes from teammates. He is becoming more diverse. Whether this change is seen in the upcoming NBA season is something that remains to be seen.