The blockbuster trade that sent Luka Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers has already been described by many as the most “shocking” in NBA history. A perennial MVP candidate, generational talent and widely considered top three player in the league, the expectations for Dončić in the City of Angels are already sky-high.
However, even though he may be playing in a market that expects to win, it seems like nobody has higher expectations than Dončić himself.
Luka Dončić’s One Ultimate Goal
On March 7, 2025, during an exclusive conversation with Lakers Nation’s Ryan Ward, Dončić left no room for doubt when he stated,
“The goal is the championship, obviously. There are no other goals than that.”
For decades, the Lakers have been synonymous with winning. From Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West in the 1970s to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson in the 1980s and Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in the 2000s, there would be no NBA without the Lakers.
However, the last championship banner in the Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) was raised in 2020. Now, with that championship five years in the rearview mirror, the Lakers are hungry to return to the pinnacle of basketball as they continue to ascend the NBA power rankings.
Luka Dončić’s Missing Trophy
In just his 7th NBA season, Dončić has already built a career filled with broken records and numerous accolades.
- 2019 NBA Rookie of the Year
- 5x NBA All-Star
- 5x All-NBA First Team
- 2024 NBA Scoring Champion
It’s also worth mentioning that he nearly won the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, despite his team losing to the Boston Celtics in just five games.
Yet, the one award still missing from his trophy cabinet is an NBA championship.
Los Angeles Lakers 2025 NBA Title Odds
As a lifelong competitor who has dazzled fans all the way from Slovenia to Madrid, Dallas to LA, the idea of Dončić winning his first-ever NBA championship is exciting.
The Lakers have gone 14-2 since January 30, over half of which were with Dončić in the lineup, and remain one of the hottest teams in the NBA having now won eight straight. At 40-21, LA is currently the second seed in the Western Conference, 10.5 games back of the Oklahoma City Thunder and half a game ahead of the Denver Nuggets.
On the surface, the Lakers have been riding an incredible high and with both James and Dončić in the lineup, they at times appear almost unstoppable. So much so that most online sportsbooks have the Lakers with the fourth shortest odds to win the 2025 NBA championship, behind only the Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics.
Even immediately after the trade for Dončić, the Lakers’ 2025 title odds jumped up drastically.
Lakers odds to win NBA Finals BEFORE trading for Luka Doncic: +5000
Lakers odds to win the NBA Finals AFTER trading for Luka Doncic: +2000 pic.twitter.com/C4pkdxj2GH
— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) February 2, 2025
However, while the excitement is palpable, the road to an NBA title is rarely a smooth one.
In the Western Conference alone, they’re going to have get through some combination of the Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors, and Minnesota Timberwolves, all teams well above .500. Then, if all that goes well, they’ll have to duke it out against the potential 60-win OKC Thunder just to get to the NBA Finals.
Oh, and they also have the third most difficult remaining strength of schedule in the league.
Whether the move to bring in Dončić will lead the Lakers back to the promise land remains to be seen, but the stage at least appears set for what could be a defining moment in his NBA career.