The argument can be made, and has been, that the NBA regular season is too long. Many argue we don’t need 82 games to properly seed these teams for a compelling postseason, and continuing with this season’s length compromises the end-of-year product.

When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks, questions quickly arose about what it meant for Austin Reaves. Reaves had been the Lakers' starting point guard in 2024-25, putting forth a career-year and seemingly taking a step toward stardom.

Luka Dončić earned a triple-double against his former team with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. LeBron James had 27 points and 12 rebounds and