Apr 30, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) moves the ball up court against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first half in game five of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Former Celtics Champ Makes Surprising Prediction for Lakers’ Luka Doncic

Originally posted on Boston Celtics on SI
By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated Jul 27, 2025 3:00 PM ET

A former Boston Celtics champion has issued a bold prediction for the future of five-time All-NBA First Team guard Luka Doncic.

The 6-foot-6 vet was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers by the Dallas Mavericks in a blockbuster midseason deal, and helped new All-Star colleague LeBron James rip off a 50-32 season and secure the Western Conference's No. 3 seed.

But L.A. fell quickly in the playoffs, losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a five-game first-round series.

Questions abounded about Doncic's relative fitness and defensive upside after the early postseason exit, just a year after he had pushed his then-Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals.

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But Doncic has one unlikely believer: former 2008 champion starting center Kendrick Perkins.

During multiple recent appearances on ESPN's "NBA Today," co-host Perkins broke rank with his Celtics loyalties to predict that Doncic would win his first MVP award next season.

"Now I know it's early, y'all, I know it's early for hot takes, but damn it, I'm going out on a limb early in this summertime. I'm going to say, I'm betting on Luka Doncic to win the MVP next season," Perkins said.

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Perkins unveiled his list of his top five candidates for MVP honors on a later episode. The veteran big man ranked reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 5, three-time MVP Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic at No. 4, three-time All-Star Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards at No. 3, and two-time MVP Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo at No. 2.

"I said it the other day, I'm saying it now, skinny Luka at that. He's engaged. He felt disrespected," Perkins said. "The Mavs gave up on him, they traded him. It was a lot of offseason noise, criticism — a lot of it came from me — about how he couldn't defend. Now all of a sudden we're getting an engaged, disrespected Luka that's holding himself accountable."

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