Second-year Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick has offered up a bold take on Luka Doncic’s Most Valuable Player award candidacy in 2025-26.
Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times writes that Redick is confident Doncic has a shot at earning his first-ever MVP honor this year.
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“He’s motivated by winning,” Redick said. “I know this because I talk to him about it all the time. He’s motivated by winning and if we win at a high level, he will be in that conversation for MVP.”
As Nguyen notes, three-time MVP Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was predicted in a preseason general manager poll from NBA.com’s John Schuhmann to earn his fourth such honor, capturing 67 percent of all votes. Doncic received the second-most votes, nabbing 10 percent.
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Doncic had a bumpy start to his Lakers career.
After arriving to Los Angeles as part of a blockbuster deal that saw the Lakers ditching 10-time All-Star big man Anthony Davis, 3-and-D swingman Max Christie, and a single draft pick in order to acquire the 6-foot-6 guard, Doncic took a second to actually hit the hardwood with his new squad.
His calf injury impeded his availability for Los Angeles, limiting him to just 28 healthy contests. Across those 28 regular season bouts, the 26-year-old earned 28.2 points while slashing .438/.379/.791 shooting splits, plus 8.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 1.6 steals a night.
Prior to an injury-plagued 2024-25 season, Doncic finished among the top eight in MVP vote recipients across five straight seasons. In 2023-24, en route to his first NBA Finals appearance, Doncic finished third, behind only Jokic and Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
That year with Dallas, he averaged a career-best 33.9 points on a .487/.382/.786 slash line, 9.8 assists, 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.5 blocks in 70 healthy games.
Doncic’s 2025-26 Lakers fit is not nearly as clean as it was during his best years on the Mavericks. Team president Rob Pelinka, who has been fairly inconsistent when it comes to team-building, brought in center Deandre Ayton and forward Jake LaRavia on fairly team-friendly deals this summer, but also let 3-and-D forward (and longtime Doncic friend) Dorian Finney-Smith depart for the Houston Rockets, while taking a flier on a possibly washed-up Marcus Smart.
To truly thrive, Doncic needs more elite 3-point shooting and defense than the Lakers can currently provide. If LA doesn’t finish with at least a top-5 record in the Western Conference (a tall task given Doncic’s supporting personnel), Doncic has no shot at an MVP.
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