Insider: Lakers want to model Luka Doncic's cast after 2024 Mavericks

The Los Angeles Lakers will have an opportunity to truly mold their team around Luka Doncic this summer. They're projected to have roughly $50 million of salary cap space, and if LeBron James ends up leaving, all of that cap space could be used on players who will complement Doncic while truly moving the needle in the right direction.

While Doncic is yet to play on a championship-caliber team in the NBA, he did play on a Dallas Mavericks team that reached the NBA Finals in 2024. That squad featured a strong front line with the likes of Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II, who were shot-blocking threats in the middle, as well as capable two-way players throughout its roster.

Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated made an appearance on "Run it Back TV" and said the Lakers want to model their roster around that 2024 Mavericks squad that lost in the championship series to the Boston Celtics.

“It’s really about reinventing this team around Luka Doncic and building the kind of team that Dallas had in its last couple of years. That means finding someone that is maybe a better fit than Deandre Ayton to be that Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford — hell, maybe it is Daniel Gafford — just find somebody that can fit into that role.

Look out for more 3-and-D type of players who fit the Dorian Finney-Smith, PJ Washington type of mold. They just really want to make Dallas 2.0. I think they feel they can succeed with a backcourt of Luka and Austin Reaves.

“Even though there are defensive challenges there, they believe they can succeed with those two guys if they get the right type of players in that frontcourt. So I think it’s going to be all about finding the Dallas versions of those players that I mentioned this offseason.”

The challenge will be to acquire players who have speed, athleticism and defensive ability who are also useful, if not productive, on the offensive end. The Lakers currently lack two-way players, and that deficiency is a major reason why they aren't considered contenders right now.

Gafford has been mentioned as a player they have been interested in trading for, but it seems unlikely Dallas would work with them on a trade for him, given the awful optics of last year's trade that sent Doncic to L.A. Other players the Purple and Gold could pursue this offseason include Peyton Watson of the Denver Nuggets, Tari Eason of the Houston Rockets, the Miami Heat's Andrew Wiggins and, of course, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Insider: Lakers want to model Luka Doncic's cast after 2024 Mavericks