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The Los Angeles Lakers have gotten a taste of Luka Doncic representing their franchise on the court. Doncic has played two games for the Lakers already, but he played under 25 minutes in both games as he was on a minutes restriction after recovering from a calf injury.
With an extra week to heal up during the All-Star break, Lakers head coach JJ Redick has made it clear that Doncic will be playing at full capacity from now onwards.
"JJ Redick's response when asked about Luka Doncic's ramp-up after being on a minutes restriction pre-ASB: 'He'll be fine...His minutes will be up tomorrow. And I don't think that there's going to be any restriction going forward.'"
Doncic averaged 15.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in his two games with the Lakers. Both games came against the Utah Jazz, with the Lakers splitting the results. Doncic's shooting splits have been ugly through these games, as he's gone 40.7% from the field and 26.7% from three. While that could have been attributed to rust as he came off a long injury absence, there are no excuses for Doncic going forward.
LeBron James is questionable for the Lakers' first post-All-Star back-to-back against the Charlotte Hornets tomorrow and the Portland Trail Blazers the day after. If LeBron doesn't play, Doncic will be expected to carry the offensive load for the team against these two lottery opponents. We know James most likely won't play in both games anyway due to his ankle injury.
Luka Doncic Needs To Return To His MVP Version
The Lakers made a bet when they acquired Luka Doncic that the best years of basketball are still in the future for him. The Dallas Mavericks think Doncic has peaked and got rid of him when his value was high, so the Lakers will be hoping Doncic gets to proving his former franchise wrong as soon as possible.
Getting better than the version of him we saw in Dallas is easier said than done. Let's not forget Luka averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 9.8 assists last season and led his squad to the NBA Finals. The bar is high and the expectations on the Lakers are higher, so without an MVP-caliber Doncic, nothing is going to be achieved in LA.
He has looked slow, sluggish, and inefficient in his first two games for the Lakers. Everyone understands giving him space to adjust after a major mid-season trade but the Lakers don't want to see their strong record start disintegrating because Doncic is playing his way into shape after a major lower-body injury.
The Lakers are 32-20 so far this season, battling to climb into the top four of the West. This is an easily attainable goal, and Doncic has to be the one to take this franchise to those heights.
LeBron is still playing great basketball, but this is going to be Doncic's team now. If he can't be the future MVP the Lakers think they acquired, it could be an ominous sign of what's to come.
More must-reads:
- Report: Knicks made a signing based on Giannis Antetokounmpo trade belief
- Lakers reportedly monitoring two-time All-Star's availability
- The 'NBA Summer League MVPs' quiz
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Surprising update emerges about Jayson Tatum’s recovery
Jayson Tatum may be giving a glimmer of hope right now to the Boston Celtics. The Celtics star Tatum, who is currently recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, was reportedly moving well while working out at Chris Paul’s CP3 Elite Camp in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week (per Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett). Bulpett adds that the possibility of Tatum rejoining the Celtics late in the 2025-26 regular season has not been ruled out at this point. “He was moving really well,” an unnamed NBA scout was quoted as saying about Tatum. “There might have been a slight limp or something, but the surprising thing to me is that he didn’t have a boot for any of it. I’m no doctor, but I’ve seen guys coming back from Achilles’ tears, and he looked way ahead. I was kind of shocked to see how well he was moving.” You can read Bulpett’s full report about the Tatum situation here. The six-time All-Star Tatum suffered an Achilles rupture during the second round of the playoffs against the New York Knicks in mid-May (video here). That means he is still only about two-and-a-half months removed from the injury and subsequent surgery. Achilles tears generally take about nine to 12 months to recover from, which would put Tatum around mid-February of next year at the absolute earliest. But it is certainly encouraging that he is already working out with a boot, and it should also help that Tatum is still only 27 years old as he embarks on his rehab. Of course, Tatum’s return to the floor will also be influenced by how the Celtics perform next season. Boston parted ways with some prominent players this offseason in an apparent effort to punt on the 2025-26 campaign and create financial flexibility. Thus, they obviously won’t push Tatum to an early return if the season is already a lost cause.
Troubling report surfaces on Patriots' first-round rookie
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye might not feel comfortable with his blindside protection early in the upcoming season. Following troubles at left tackle in 2024, the Patriots invested in the position by drafting LSU standout Will Campbell with the No. 4 pick in April's draft. Per Chad Graff of The Athletic, Campbell has been trending down at training camp this summer. "All eyes are on him every practice, which is a tough spot for a rookie," Graff wrote of Campbell. "So far, he’s been about what you’d expect from a rookie. He has some strong moments, particularly in the running game. But there have been struggles in the passing game. He’s been beaten for a sack in just about every practice, which isn’t great considering he’s usually on the field each practice for only 15 or so passing plays in full-team drills. "He tends to get beaten to the inside after oversetting, and it probably doesn’t help that the Pats don’t yet know who their left guard is next to him. Still, extrapolate those numbers, and that’s allowing two sacks each NFL game if you throw the ball 30 times. Not great." Graff believes the future is "bright" for Campbell, but doesn't think he will be a top-20 left tackle in 2025. NFL scouts had questions before the draft about Campbell's 32⅝ inch (or 33 inches, depending on whether one believes the league or LSU) arm length. Some suggested he'd be better suited to play guard in the league than left tackle. If Campbell continues to give up sacks, the Patriots might consider moving the 21-year-old to the interior part of the offensive line. Per OurLads, Campbell is projected to win the left tackle starting job for Week 1. If Campbell doesn't develop quickly in the preseason, Maye's progress as a thrower in the pocket could take a hit in the upcoming season.
Five biggest losers from the 2025 MLB trade deadline
The 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline was 6 p.m. ET on Thursday. Some teams managed to get better in either a short-term or long-term outlook. Other teams did not. We've already gone over the five biggest winners, which featured some surprising teams. Here we are focusing on the five teams that were the biggest losers. Minnesota Twins The good news for Twins fans is the team did not trade outfielder Byron Buxton or starting pitcher Joe Ryan. The bad news for Twins fans is the team traded pretty much everybody else. The worst news is the Twins have pretty much sabotaged any goodwill the team had built up in recent years, including their 2023 trip to the American League Division Series. Since then the Twins collapsed late last season, did very little in the offseason and then completely gutted the roster over the past two weeks, including a straight salary-dump trade of Carlos Correa to the Houston Astros, his former team. This is going to be a long, slow climb back to the top. Pittsburgh Pirates The Pirates had a chance to have a potentially impactful trade deadline with some intriguing trade chips in what had become a seller's market. They ended up trading closer David Bednar, third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, starting pitcher Bailey Falter and relief pitcher Caleb Ferguson. They held on to pending free agents Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tommy Pham and Andrew Heaney. What's so baffling about the trades they did make is that they gave up useful, productive players with years of team control still remaining, did not get a single highly-ranked prospect back in return and kept the players that are going to leave for nothing. The only winner here is owner Bob Nutting's bank account for all of the money he saved in the future by dumping Hayes' contract and potential arbitration years from Bednar and Falter. Chicago Cubs After paying a steep price to get outfielder Kyle Tucker in the offseason everybody in Chicago knew the clock was ticking on the Cubs to build a winner around him. He is a free agent after this season and seems determined to hit the open market for the highest bidder. Even though the Cubs have emerged as a contender, it was pretty clear as the season has gone on that they needed at least one more starting pitcher. They did not get one, and instead only added a utility infielder (Willi Castro) and reliever Taylor Rogers. While so many teams around them in the NL managed to get better, it's an underwhelming deadline performance for a team that should be going all in. Atlanta Braves It's not that the Braves did anything poor at the trade deadline that makes them losers. It's that they didn't do ... anything. At least not anything that they needed to do. None of their pending free agents were moved, no significant changes were made to a team going nowhere this season and the only move they did make was a marginal trade involving Rafael Montero. That is extremely underwhelming. Boston Red Sox The Red Sox were rumored to be in the market for a significant starting pitcher, including Minnesota's Joe Ryan. They did not make that sort of splash move, and instead added Steven Matz and Dustin May. For a team trying to hang in the American League playoff race, that is not really exciting. They also paid a steep price to get May, giving up one of the top prospects — outfielder James Tibbs III — they acquired in the Rafael Devers trade to the San Francisco Giants.
Malik Nabers Rejuvated By NY Giants New Culture, Team Additions
Like his teammates last year, New York Giants receiver Malik Nabers was worn down by the end of the 2024 season from all the losing and pitfalls the team fell into. But the further away the Giants get from a franchise-worst 3-14 record, the brighter the outlook becomes in East Rutherford, especially given all the fresh faces general manager Joe Schoen brought in to help bolster the culture and improve the team’s chances of being more competitive. “The people we put in this building this year… adding a few more quarterbacks from Jameis (Winston), (Jaxson) Dart, Russell (Wilson), Jevon Holland, (Paulson) Adebo,” Nabers told Kay Adams during her recent training camp stop for her Up Adams podcast. “So having those athletic guys, having those leaders that's on defense and offense… we’ve been seeing a lot of leadership from those guys, so we’re moving in the right direction.” Wilson, in particular, is going to be instrumental for Nabers as he seeks to deliver an encore of last year’s franchise record-setting (receptions) performance. Thus far in training camp, Nabers, who sat out of the spring drills thanks to a toe issue, and Wilson look as though they have been playing catch for years instead of just over a week. “I try to get as much information out of him as possible,” Nabers said, adding that the relationship between him and Wilson is ‘dynamic. “He's been very helpful throughout my journey. With the leadership he has added to the quarterback role, the offense, the receivers, you know the sky is the limit for us, and I hope we reach that.” "He's an animal!" Besides the new faces at quarterback, Nabers is particularly impressed with the addition of first-round pick Abdul Carter, who so far has been living up to his pre-draft billing. “That dude is an animal,” Nabers said of the 2024 All-American. “I don’t really see it until I go home and watch it, but when you watch the explosiveness, the ability for him to work his body, twerk his body, spin his body, I can't wait for people to actually see him when he's playing alongside us.” One thing that specifically stood out to Nabers when it came to Carter was his athleticism and deep bag of pass-rushing moves. “He’s doing crazy moves,” Nabers said. “ Like a lot of guys have one specific move that they do at the d-line; he's got an arsenal in his package and I can’t wait for him to unleash it.” Adams then playfully asked Nabers if he intended to give his buddy, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, a heads up about Carter. “I’m not going to tell him nothing; I’ll let him see in person,” Nabers said with a smile. “I’mma let everybody see (him) in person.” What happens next with the NY Giants? Find out! Follow and like us on Facebook. Visit our YouTube channel for the latest videos. Want to send a question in for our mailbag? You can do so here.
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