“That would be a giant mistake”: Luka Doncic gets fresh insider warning amid standout season as Los Angeles Lakers’ trade scenario on the horizon

Los Angeles Lakers insider Jovan Buha puts the odds of a trade this season at 65%, and he has a pointed message for the front office. Luka Doncic leads the league in scoring at 38.3 points per game, and the Lakers are 6-2.Buha says sitting still while this is happening would be a costly mistake. Injuries have thinned out the Western Conference, and the roster still has two clear gaps. A deal is unlikely this month. Late December or the February deadline fits better.Is it a mistake for the Lakers to skip a Luka Doncic trade?Buha thinks so. On his podcast, Buha’s Block, he agreed that doing nothing would be malpractice. He then added: “I just think that would be a giant mistake having Luka in his prime.”Luka Doncic is posting the best numbers of his career, and the West is banged up. Anthony Edwards, Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace are all hurt, which weakens three possible rivals. Slovenian guard is averaging 38.3 points, eight rebounds and 8.1 assists through seven games, shooting 49.7%. Hold that scoring pace all year and it would rank fourth on the NBA’s single-season list. Doncic has already set a handful of franchise and league records, and it has only been two weeks.Buha calls it a window Los Angeles has to use.When could a Lakers trade happen?Probably not soon. Many players who signed this summer cannot be moved until Dec. 15, so Buha sees the last week of December as the earliest realistic point. His best guess is closer to the Feb. 11 deadline.An injury or a bench unit that keeps struggling could speed things up, mostly at center. Walker Kessler is the only true big man on the roster, and nobody reliable sits behind him. The team has also been looking for a starting forward better than the wings it is using now. Buha was careful to say he is not promising anything. He just thinks a deal is more likely than not.There is a contract angle as well. Doncic’s deal runs through 2028 or 2029, depending on his player option. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said before the season that the Lakers know they need to be in good standing with their star to get an extension done. Giving him a better supporting cast is part of that.Dec. 15 is the date to circle.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.