LeBron’s former championship teammate says Luka and him don’t work on the court together

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James now has a new star teammate. Late on Saturday night, the storied franchise parted ways with Anthony Davis and more in order to acquire Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic.

Former Cleveland Cavaliers big man Channing Frye is one of the numerous folks connected to the NBA who have weighed in on the blockbuster three-team trade between the Lakers, Mavericks and Utah Jazz and claimed on X that he doesn’t think James and Doncic are a good fit on the court.

Maybe the best argument for the notion that Doncic and James are a clunky fit on the floor together is that both players are used to operating on offense with the ball in their hands. This season, Doncic has the ninth-highest usage percentage of any starter in the NBA, and James ranks 21st under that criteria.

However, the progress that James has made as a 3-point shooter in recent years suggests that perhaps the Lakers could make it work with the 40-year-old playing away from the ball. Since the start of the 2023-24 campaign, James has played in 115 regular-season contests and is shooting 39.8 percent from 3-point range on 5.3 attempts per contest in that span.

He was particularly effective in scoring the ball from 3-point range in the month of January, as 41.7 percent of his 3s found nylon. James even buried seven triples in Los Angeles’ victory over the Portland Trail Blazers back on Jan. 2.

Plus, it’s not as if Doncic and James will always be on the court at the same time for the Lakers. During the stretches when one of them is on the floor and one is off, whichever of the two is in the game can hold the keys to the offense.

The Lakers will play their first game since trading for Doncic when the team faces off against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. The Clippers’ record is nearly identical to the Lakers’ at 28-20, and they’ve gotten off to a strong start despite the fact that Kawhi Leonard has been limited to only 10 games so far this season.