NBA Supercoach | The Case for the Lakers Double

Luka and Reaves together from Week 1. It’s a lot of money in one jersey, and it’s not a play I’d normally make. But I went looking for the case, and there’s a real one, as long as you know exactly when to get out.

Every preseason there’s one structure that looks reckless on paper and ends up winning a few leagues. This year I think it’s the Lakers double: Luka Doncic at $23.61M and Austin Reaves at $16.36M, both in your starting side, with Luka wearing the C.

I went into this expecting to write that the Lakers’ early schedule makes it a no-brainer. It doesn’t, not quite. The Lakers have one of the best three-week openings in the league and then the worst four-week run of any team. So this isn’t a set-and-forget. It’s a three-week raid with a planned exit, and here’s why I think that’s worth doing.

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The schedule: three great weeks, then trouble

The Lakers play 11 games across Weeks 1 to 3. That’s the joint-most in the league, level with Atlanta, Minnesota, and Philadelphia, and more than a game above the league average of 9.7.

Back-to-back four-game weeks in Weeks 2 and 3 are exactly what you want from a captain.

2026-27 NBA schedule (Basketball-Reference) mapped to SuperCoach weeks; Week 7 excludes NBA Cup knockout dates

Then it falls off a cliff. From Week 4 to Week 7, the Lakers play 3, 3, 3, and 2, which is 11 games across four weeks. That’s the fewest of any team in the league, against an average of 12.9.

Memphis plays 15 in the same stretch. Week 7, the NBA Cup short week, is a two-gamer for LA.

Over the whole seven weeks, the Lakers have 22 games, which is actually below average (22.6) and ranks 22nd. So if you were planning to set the duo and forget them until Christmas, the schedule argues against it.

If you want to bank the best three-week opening in the game and then move on, it argues strongly for it.

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Why this year: 15 shots just walked out the door

The schedule is the timing. The real case is the usage.

LeBron is in Philadelphia. Last season he took 15.3 shots, 5.3 free throws and made 7.2 assists a game for the Lakers across 60 games.

Deandre Ayton, who took 8.3 shots and grabbed 8.0 rebounds, is in Washington. That’s a lot of touches with nowhere to go but to the two players who were already running the offence.

Last season (per game)	Luka	Reaves	LeBron (gone)
Points	33.5	23.3	20.9
Shots (FGA)	22.8	14.9	15.3
Assists	8.3	5.5	7.2
SC average	36.1	25.0	25.9
2026-27 price	$23.61M	$16.36M	$16.92M (PHI)

Luka is already at the ceiling of what a SuperCoach player can do, so for him it’s more about security than upside. He’s the ball-handler, the scorer, and the rebounding guard, and the only thing that stops him is his own body.

Reaves is the one where the price looks wrong. He’s priced at 25.0, which was his average as the third option alongside Luka and LeBron. Take LeBron out, and he’s the clear second option, the secondary creator, and the player who runs the offence when Luka sits.

I have him at 26.5, and I think that’s conservative. The Lakers also re-signed him for four years, which tells you where he sits in their plans.

There’s also a tax argument. From the last article, Reaves gives back 32% of his production to missed shots and turnovers, right on the league median.

He gets to the line (7.3 free throw attempts a game), and he doesn’t jack bad shots. More touches for him shouldn’t come at a big efficiency cost.

What it costs you: about two points a week

Luka and Reaves together cost $39.97M, 24% of your cap on two players from one team. That’s the part that scares people. So I tested it.

I ran the same squad optimiser I used for my first preseason piece, set to maximise points across Weeks 1 to 3 under the real cap and position rules. Then I ran it again, forcing Luka and Reaves into the starting side.

Weeks 1–3 build	Projected pts per week (best 9 + captain)	Week 1 projection
Best possible team	843	832
Best team with Luka + Reaves	841	817

Two points a week. That’s the cost of the double over the optimal Weeks 1–3 team.

Two other things came out of the test that surprised me. When I optimise for the first three weeks rather than the first four, the optimiser picks Luka as captain on its own, without being told. The Lakers’ back-to-back four-game weeks tip it. And the rest of the team barely changes.

Both builds keep the same three rookies (Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer) plus Amen, Edwards, Jalen Johnson, and Gobert. The double costs you Durant and Randle, with Reaves and Tatum coming in.

The Week 1 dip is real, though. It’s 15 points, because the Lakers’ Week 1 is an ordinary three-gamer. If you’re coming in purely for Week 1, the double isn’t worth it. The case lives in Weeks 2 and 3, where the Lakers play eight games between them.

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The risks to consider

One injury report, two players. If Luka tweaks a calf on a Tuesday, you lose your captain and your team’s shape in one go. Luka played 62 games last season.

There is a partial hedge built in, because Reaves’s usage goes up when Luka sits, but a Lakers rest night or a blowout hits both.

Pick the VC on numbers, not loyalty. The VC only matters in a week where Luka plays zero games. It’s tempting to set Reaves, since his usage jumps when Luka sits.

But Jalen Johnson (30.9 last season) projects higher than even a Luka-less Reaves, so he’s the better insurance in the build above. Save the Reaves VC for weeks where Atlanta has fewer games.

The Week 4 cliff. This is the big one. If you hold both past Week 3, here’s what the schedule costs you over Weeks 4 to 7:

Weeks 4–7	Pos	Price	Games	Projected pts
Luka (LAL)	PG/SG	$23.61M	11	397
SGA (OKC)	PG/SG	$22.53M	13	449
Jokic (DEN)	C	$28.07M	13	559
Reaves (LAL)	SG/SF	$16.36M	11	292
Tyler Herro (MIL)	PG/SG	$13.93M	14	350

The clean exit is Luka to SGA and Reaves to Herro. Both are like-for-like guard swaps, so no restructuring is needed. Together they’re worth about 110 points over those four weeks and free up $3.51M.

Jokic is the bigger prize (+162 on Luka), but he’s a centre, so getting him in means reshuffling your frontcourt. That’s a Week 5 job, once the rookie price rises have landed.

The exit uses trades. You get three a week. Doing both moves in Week 4 uses two of them, at the same time your rookies are posting their first price rises and you’ll want to start upgrading.

That’s the real cost of the raid. You’re spending Week 4’s trades on the Lakers exit instead of on the rookies.

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The verdict

It’s defensible, with conditions. The Lakers double costs you about two points a week over the best possible Weeks 1–3 team. In return, you get Luka as captain through the Lakers’ back-to-back four-game weeks, and Reaves stepping into the minutes LeBron left behind at a price set for his old role. That’s a fair trade for a coach who wants a point of difference from the pack.

It stops being defensible the moment you treat it as a hold. The Lakers play the fewest games of any team from Week 4 to Week 7. So this is the plan I’d run.

Slot	Player	Team	Price
PG	Luka Doncic (C)	LAL	$23.61M
PG	Amen Thompson	HOU	$16.93M
SG	Austin Reaves	LAL	$16.36M
SG	Darryn Peterson	UTA	$5.20M
C	Jalen Johnson (VC)	ATL	$20.18M
SF	Anthony Edwards	MIN	$17.76M
SF	Jayson Tatum	BOS	$17.19M
PF	AJ Dybantsa	WAS	$5.25M
PF	Cameron Boozer	MEM	$5.15M
Flex	Rudy Gobert	MIN	$15.27M
Bench PG	Labaron Philon Jr.	PHI	$4.20M
Bench SG	Mikel Brown Jr.	BKN	$5.00M
Bench C	Mo Bamba	UTA	$4.56M
Bench SF	Karim Lopez	MEM	$4.25M
Bench PF	Koa Peat	PHX	$3.80M

That’s $164.71M, $250k under the cap. Gobert takes the Flex because he played 74 games last season and gives back only 19% of his production. That’s the profile you want in the one spot with no cover.

The plan:

1. Weeks 1–3: Luka captains all three (projected 108, 144, 144). Jalen Johnson is the VC. Use trades only for injuries.
2. Week 4: Luka to SGA and Reaves to Herro. That’s two trades, frees $3.51M, and gets you out before the Lakers’ cliff.
3. Week 5: Denver’s first four-game week. Use the rookie price rises and the freed cash to reshape the frontcourt for Jokic.

It’s a different road from my early-points squad in the first piece, which starts with Shai and Haliburton. I’m not switching. But if you want a point of difference in the first three weeks, this is a defensible one. The key is that you get out on time.