Arguably the biggest winner of the blockbuster trade that sent Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers prior to the trade deadline wasn’t the Lakers, or the Dallas Mavericks, or even Dončić himself. Instead, it was the greatest 40-year-old in NBA history, James — who has averaged 25.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 9.1 assists per game since turning 40 — who suddenly carries less of an offensive burden with one of the only players who’s arguably a better playmaker than he is as his teammate.
We got a glimpse of Dončić and James playing with each other on Monday night against the Utah Jazz, although head coach JJ Redick largely staggered their minutes. While Dončić was a little rusty, James was excellent, dropping 24 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists in just 29 minutes in the blowout victory.
The teams will rematch tonight at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City in Los Angeles’ last game before the All-Star Break, with the game tipping off at 9 p.m. ET.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Lakers are 10-point favorites and the total is set for 235.5. Below, I’ve highlighted my favorite prop bets centered around the best No. 2 option in basketball.
Best LeBron James Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
LeBron James Double-Double (+140)
Playing off of Dončić, James has all of a sudden become both a major on-ball and off-ball threat. While Los Angeles no longer has a star rim-running or shooting center — new acquisition Alex Len doesn’t check either of those boxes — the Lakers’ spacing in Dončić’s debut was excellent, with Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves getting easy looks from the corner and Jaxson Hayes throwing down lobs. During that game, Los Angeles recorded eight secondary assists, the most that any team recorded in its most recent game. The impact of Dončić’s spacing on the Lakers’ offense was already clear in the opening game. During the game, James had 12 potential assists and 4.6 minutes of possession, significantly more than Dončić in each category.
Unless Los Angeles blows Utah out again and relegates The King to the bench early — which is certainly a possibility — this increased spacing should help James produce huge stats in the short term and prolong his career in the long term. The Lakers are Dončić’s team, but as he gets accustomed to JJ Redick’s system and works himself back into shape, James should still be the team’s primary ball-handler and playmaker. He should have a good chance of dishing out 10 dimes against the Jazz, who have allowed the fourth-most assists to opposing players, and if not, he might well grab 10 rebounds — something he’s done 15 times this season — even if Utah has allowed the sixth-fewest rebounds this season.
LeBron James Most Points (+225)
It’s unlikely that Dončić is going to play only 24 minutes or shoot one-for-seven from deep again, but he will be on somewhat of a minutes restriction — per reports, a maximum of 30 minutes — and he’s still clearly not in perfect basketball condition, and Salt Lake City’s elevation can be tough. He’ll have a big scoring performance for Los Angeles eventually, and probably some time soon, but expecting him to drop 30 right off the bat is unrealistic. Redick will likely play it conservative with his new star in the early going, and if James heads to the bench, so will Dončić.
James has scored 24 or more points in each of his last six games, so at minimum, that’s Dončić’s mark to beat, assuming no Utah player pulls out a surprising performance against a Lakers defense that has had the league’s second-best defensive rating in its last 10 games. Dončić has scored 24 or more points only 27 times in the 64 career games in which he has played fewer than 30 minutes, although that trend is depressed by his rookie season, when he achieved that feat in just one of 18 such games.
