NBA analyst boldly compares Luka Doncic's Lakers' ceiling to Nikola Jokic's title-winning Nuggets

The LA Lakers shifted their playoff outlook by acquiring superstar guard Luka Doncic earlier this month. Many expect them to take a sizable step back defensively while becoming more lethal offensively. However, The Volume's Jason Timpf likened their two-way prospects to the Denver Nuggets' 2023 NBA championship squad.

LA has been rolling since Jan. 15, going 12-2 to improve to fourth in the Western Conference (32-19). The team has won six straight games, including Monday's 132-113 blowout home victory over the Utah Jazz in Doncic's debut.

During that span, the Lakers boast the league's No. 7 offensive rating (119.8) and No. 2 defensive rating (108.1). While they have been strong offensively most of the season, that marks a stark improvement over their season-long 16th-best defensive rating (113.6).

Naturally, after swapping one of the NBA's premier two-way big men, Anthony Davis, for Doncic, an offensive-minded guard, a defensive decline is widely expected. However, Timpf doesn't see it as a major concern, as long as LA can remain passable on that end of the court.

On Tuesday's edition of "Hoops Tonight with Jason Timpf," the analyst predicted the Doncic-led Lakers to be a middle-of-the-pack defensive team.

"Do I think they're gonna be that good (defensively) with Luka? No. That's just the reality of having Luka on the floor," Timpf said. "... I still think they're gonna be pretty good on defense, though."

Timpf added that LA should follow the 2023 Nuggets' blueprint, whose first-rate offense, spearheaded by superstar center Nikola Jokic, masked their defensive flaws.

"I don't see them as a group that's gonna be some elite top-three defense, even though they've been playing great defense as of late. The idea here is to achieve peak unguardability on offense, like Denver did in 2023, and find a way to be good enough on defense," Timpf said.

"Somewhere in that 10-to-15 range, like ideally in the six-to-10 range, just outside of that top five. If they can get into that range consistently, that's where this group has some championship potential."

Denver's 2023 championship team finished the regular season fifth in offensive rating (116.8) and 15th in defensive rating (113.5). Thus, that should be an obtainable goal for the new-look Lakers.

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JJ Redick satisfied with Lakers' offense in Luka Doncic's debut, says team is "building an identity"

Lakers coach JJ Redick also appears optimistic about his team's ceiling with Luka Doncic at the helm of his offense. Following Monday's win over Utah, Redick lauded LA's offensive ingenuity and lack of agendas.

"I thought we were able to generate really good offense throughout the night," Redick said. "... I thought our three main guys did a nice job of playing off each other a lot of the night. Sometimes you can have agendas in a game. I felt like this, for our group, was just a no-agenda game."

Redick added that the Lakers are motivated to continue establishing their team identity over the final third of the season.

"I'm most excited by the spirit of this group, that we've laid the foundation of who we're gonna be," Redick said. "It's a process to build an identity, and it's not something that is easy, and there are moments of pain and moments of frustration.

"I think our overall group buy-in is at a really high level, and I know Luka is motivated ... and I expect that spirit to continue."

LA (32-19) rematches against Utah (12-40) on the road on Wednesday. The showdown against the West bottom-feeder should give the Lakers another prime opportunity to fine-tune their offense heading into the All-Star break.

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