Lakers coach drops hint on Luka Doncic: ‘The summer’s not over yet’

Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Greg St. Jean and star guard Luka Doncic go back a ways. St. Jean had a stop with the Dallas Mavericks during his NBA coaching journey, and Doncic just so happened to be the face of that franchise at the time.

Now, the two work alongside one another with the storied Lakers franchise. With both of them also spending time with the Slovenian national team right now, St. Jean spoke on the 26-year-old, saying that he’s still a “work in progress” amid his big offseason.

Doncic is said to have lost significant weight this offseason. St. Jean didn’t necessarily say Doncic will lose more weight this summer but seemingly talked about how he is still getting his footing back after he took some time away from basketball in order to work on his conditioning.

“I think it’s still a work in progress,” St. Jean told BasketNews. “I think the summer’s not over yet. And he’s going to continue to get better. I think we’ll continue to see as he gets more in-game shape with some rhythm.”

St. Jean noted that Doncic played basketball in a five-on-five setting for the first time in a long time recently.

“He’s been doing a lot of training, and now he’s going to be playing five-on-five competition,” he said. “His game last week [the conversation took place on Friday] was the first time he’s played five-on-five in a long time.

“So it’s a work in progress. We’ll continue to see him play more and more, and as the tournament progresses, and then getting ready for the Lakers season.”

The coming NBA campaign will mark Doncic’s first full season in a Lakers uniform after the Mavericks traded him to the iconic organization in a stunning move ahead of the February trade deadline.

The early returns on the Mavs’ decision to move on from Doncic haven’t been encouraging for them, even if the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft fell into their lap. The crown jewel of the package that the Mavericks got in return in the trade, star big Anthony Davis, was limited to only nine games with Dallas a season ago with poor injury luck.

Doncic can further solidify that the Mavericks were wrong to move on from him if he is a new and improved player in the coming season. After a lot of people gave him flak for his conditioning last season, he will look to end that narrative moving forward.

It should be exciting to find out whether the changes that Doncic has made to his physique will pay off in him giving the Lakers greater production and effectiveness on the court. Opposing coaches and players around the NBA should be terrified about the possibility that Doncic still has another gear he can reach as a player with how great he’s been already.