How Luka Doncic’s custody battle may hint at his impending return vs. the Thunder

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic has been out of the lineup since early April due to a hamstring injury, missing the first four games of the Lakers’ playoff series with the Houston Rockets.

Doncic has a chance to return to action later on in the postseason, and a recent development in the star guards’ custody battle seems to hint at a potential return to the lineup in the second round.

“A new court filing, obtained by The California Post on Monday, shows Doncic and his famed attorney, Laura Wasser, agreed to a request to push a hearing date in his child custody battle with Anamaria Goltes until later this summer,” the New York Post’s Edward Lewis wrote. “The hearing had originally been slated for May 14.”

According to Lewis, records show that the court ultimately postponed the issue until Aug. 14.

If the Lakers are able to get past the Rockets in the first round, they’d face the No. 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the playoffs. Oklahoma City swept the Phoenix Suns in the first round, and it finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA.

That series would take place in the opening weeks of May, which could be a reason why Doncic and his legal team agreed to push the hearing date until later on this year. If Doncic is back in the lineup and playing in playoff games, it would be hard for him to deal with an off-the-court matter as well.

During the regular season, Doncic appeared in 64 games for the Lakers, averaging 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game. He shot 47.6 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from beyond the arc.

Because of Doncic’s MVP-caliber play, the Lakers ended up with the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference and have home court in their first-round matchup with Houston. The Lakers had taken a 3-0 series lead over the Rockets, and they need to win just one of the next three games after dropping Game 4 on Sunday.

Los Angeles has a home game on Wednesday, April 29 where it could end the series and officially set up a showdown with Oklahoma City.

Doncic was injured against the Thunder earlier this month, and it’s unclear if he’d be ready to go for Game 1 of a potential second-round series. For now, the Lakers need to focus on beating Houston before they can look ahead to any other playoff matchup.