Asked to describe what heâ€d seen from Luka DonÄić in the early days of the 2025-26 NBA season, Marcus Smart found himself forced past grammar, diction and sense.
“Fantasticness,†Smart offered after the Los Angeles Lakers†win last Friday over the slumping Memphis Grizzlies.
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Is that a word? Well, not strictly speaking, no. But then: If stuff like what Lukaâ€s been putting on the court doesnâ€t inspire you to start reaching beyond the surly bonds of language, are you even really a poet?
Those first Menâ€s Health cover shots of a newly chiseled Luka raised Lakers fans†expectations for what kind of magic he might make in his first full season in Los Angeles; his dominant run for Slovenia at EuroBasket 2025 sent those expectations into the stratosphere. But even the most cockeyed optimist probably wouldâ€ve stopped shy of “averaging 40 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists per game on career-best shooting†… and yet, after another monster performance in the Lakers†hard-fought 118-116 win over Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, thatâ€s exactly where Lukaâ€s at.
“This is the best Luka DonÄić weâ€ve ever seen†is an awfully lofty claim, but itâ€s also one thatâ€s getting harder to argue as we process through whatâ€s become a legitimately historic season-opening heater. According to Justin Kubatko of Statitudes, DonÄić is just the second NBA player ever to score 200 or more points through his first five games, and the first to do it since the 1962-63 season. When the only person sharing a statistical achievement with you is Wilt Chamberlain, then chances are youâ€re doing pretty friggin†well … and DonÄić is, virtually across the board. (“Virtually†because, thanks to a 1-for-11 shooting night from 3-point land against Memphis, heâ€s at just 30.5% from long distance. Achilles had the heel, you know?)
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Heâ€s been devastating when penetrating off the dribble, trailing only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and teammate Austin Reaves in points scored on drives to the basket. His touch on the interior remains imperial; heâ€s shooting a career-best 67.2% inside the arc, including an absurd 85% at the cup. That, plus a 78.9% success rate at the charity stripe, where heâ€s going more often than ever, has more than counteracted the frosty start from long range: After five games, Lukaâ€s true shooting percentage (which factors in 2-point, 3-point and free-throw accuracy) is .636, which would be by far the highest of his career. The only players whoâ€ve ever finished a season with a usage rate and true shooting percentage even close to as high as Lukaâ€s are right now: James Harden in 2019-20, Joel Embiid in 2020-21 and 2022-23, and Giannis Antetokounmpo last season.
In addition to leading the league in scoring, DonÄić is also fifth in assists per game and sixth in points per game created via assist. And despite an absolutely mammoth shot-creation workload in the absence of LeBron James — leading the NBA in usage rate, touches and time of possession, with the ball in his hands 45% of the time heâ€s on the floor, according to NBA RAPM — Lukaâ€s posting the lowest turnover rate of his career, coughing it up on just 11.3% of the offensive possessions he uses.
The assists are up and turnovers down, in part, because of the chemistry heâ€s developing with big men Deandre Ayton — he has 12 assists on Ayton buckets in just 108 shared minutes — and Jaxson Hayes. Having a pair of huge rim-running roll threats who draw defensive attention creates additional space for Luka to cook in the in-between game; heâ€s making nearly two-thirds of his floater-range paint shots and half of his midrange looks.
When combined with credible catch-and-shoot targets on the perimeter — Rui Hachimura and Jake LaRavia have both been shooting the lights out — it also makes for a pretty stunning engine of consistent NBA offense. Including plays where he passes to a teammate who shoots, the Lakers are scoring 1.185 points per play out of a DonÄić pick-and-roll — the fourth-highest rate of any player to finish at least 50 plays, according to Synergy Sports, behind only Jaylen Brown, rising-star running buddy Reaves and Bucks breakout performer Ryan Rollins.
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Lukaâ€s previous career-high watermark in pick-and-roll point production, by the way: 1.157 points per play, back in 2022-23 … when he led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals.
[Get more Lakers news: Los Angeles team feed]
All told, the Lakers rank sixth in points per non-garbage-time possession, according to Cleaning the Glass. With Luka on the floor, though, theyâ€re scoring at a clip that would eclipse the Rockets†top-ranked offense.
“He just continues to get where he wants to go, and he takes what the defense gives him,†Lakers coach JJ Redick told reporters after DonÄić scored 44 points against Memphis.
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A lot of the time, thatâ€s true. Sometimes, though, DonÄić side-steps taking what the defense gives, and just goes ahead and takes whatever he wants …
… including, increasingly, the basketball. DonÄić rounded out his offensive performance against the Spurs with a career-high-tying five steals; his block and steal rates, like his defensive rebounding rate, are sitting at or near career highs.
“Iâ€ve never seen him like that,†Hachimura said of DonÄićâ€s work on his, um, less heralded end of the floor. “But you know, heâ€s trying to be more aggressive [on defense], and thatâ€s what we need from him, too.â€
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DonÄić has provided all that and then some — one of the biggest reasons why the Lakers sit at 7-2, second in the Western Conference behind the defending champion Thunder, who finally took their first loss of the season in Portland on Wednesday. All this, despite DonÄić missing four games, despite James not having played yet as he works through a sciatica issue, and with Reaves missing a pair of games with groin soreness.
As Law Murray noted at The Athletic, Redick has already had to cycle through seven different starting lineups in nine games as he navigates all the injuries. Itâ€s not yet clear when Redick will have a full squad to deploy — LeBron reportedly wonâ€t travel on the Lakers†upcoming five-game road trip, meaning the earliest he could return is a Nov. 18 home game against the Jazz, L.A.â€s 15th game of the season — or when heâ€ll be able to ease off the gas in terms of just how much heâ€s asking of Luka.
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Heâ€ll have to at some point; it seems unreasonable to expect even a supernaturally gifted playmaker in the best shape of his life to continue at this torrid a pace. Then again, magicians thrive on subverting the audienceâ€s expectations. And considering the magic Lukaâ€s performing on a nightly basis, maybe weâ€d be best served to just sit back, watch the show, and wait for the next play thatâ€ll send Smart and the rest of us grasping for the most appropriate adjective we can find.
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