The Lakers have spent the summer trying to build a championship roster around Luka Doncic. But one comparison may be creating more pressure than clarity. With LeBron James gone, Austin Reaves has increasingly been placed beside Doncic as LA searches for the right formula. It prompted comparisons to Luka’s 2024 blueprint, with his legendary partnership with Kyrie Irving in Dallas that fetched them a Finals ticket.

However, five-time NBA champion with the Lakers, Derek Fisher, believes that comparison needs to stop before it creates an unfair expectation for Reaves.

“I don’t know if we should be trying to compare anybody to Kyrie Irving, right?” Fisher said, speaking on 97.1 The Fan LA. “That’s not fair to Austin Reaves to try to make it seem like the blueprint is better in LA, when Kyrie Irving was on the team. You got to slow that down a little bit.”

However, Fisher made it clear that he wasn’t undermining Reaves. 

“And that’s no disrespect to Austin. It’s more of an understanding of Kyrie Irving’s greatness than Austin being less.”

He was emphasizing the extraordinary level Irving brought to Dallas and warning against treating Reaves as a direct substitute for him. That distinction matters because LA can use Reaves effectively without asking him to reproduce something that made Irving unique.

Irving gave the Mavericks another elite shot creator who could attack defenses independently of Luka Doncic. He could handle the ball, win isolations, and take over scoring stretches when Luka faced constant pressure. 

Reaves offers a different package. He is built more around connecting playmaking, decision-making, and off-ball play, and his improving offense is evident in his year-on-year stats, going from averaging 7.3 points in his rookie year in 2021-22 to 23.3 in 2025-26.

Fisher’s larger point is that LA should study what actually made Dallas dangerous instead of copying the names on the depth chart.

“The team that Luka played for in Dallas that made it to the NBA Finals, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II were—they played way above their salary number and what was expected of them,” Fisher said. 

The big men worked in tandem, combining their rim protection, shot blocking, athleticism, and a constant lob threat. 

Speaking about the wing, he said, “P.J. Washington and Derrick Jones Jr. were off the charts as wing players. You talk about three and D? Those guys were elite during that playoff run.”

Those contributions allowed Dallas to survive without asking every possession to run through its stars.

The Lakers have a potential answer of their own in Walker Kessler. Rather than trying to recreate Gafford and Lively individually, LA can use Kessler’s size and interior defense to establish its own foundation around Luka Doncic.

Kessler gives the Lakers a different version of the interior presence Dallas had from Gafford and Lively. His size, shot blocking, and screening can anchor the paint while creating cleaner pick-and-roll opportunities for Doncic.

That becomes even more important with Collin Sexton and Quentin Grimes joining the backcourt. Fisher sees them as younger, more dynamic versions of Marcus Smart. They add athleticism and defensive energy around Luka Doncic.

Meanwhile, Austin Reaves doesn’t need to become Kyrie Irving. Fisher’s point is that asking him to fill Irving’s role ignores what makes him effective in the first place.

Luka Doncic’s gravity should create opportunities for Reaves to attack closeouts, make quick decisions, and punish defensive rotations. He can remain a highly effective secondary creator without carrying the isolation burden Irving handled in Dallas.

That was the larger lesson from Fisher’s comparison.

LA needs the same collective production. If Kessler anchors the defense, Sexton and Grimes provide perimeter energy, and Reaves thrives in his natural role, the Lakers can build their own identity around Luka Doncic instead of chasing Dallas’ blueprint.