The Los Angeles Lakers had an early exit from the postseason, running into the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round, who proved to be a mismatch for the new-look Lakers. LA had no frontcourt play to stop Minnesota's combination of Julius Randle,

After the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in February, the five-time All-Star met with general manager Rob Pelinka and asked him to trade for a specific player. Doncic wanted to play with a center who was a lob threat since he had success playing with Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II in Dallas.

Luka Dončić's pregame routine includes taking three half-court shots, with some incentives baked into the practice—if he makes one of them, the Los Angeles Lakers' assistants out on the court do pushups, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin, but if he misses all three he does the pushups or body squats himself.