Luke Doncic ‘targeting’ return on Feb. 8, expected back before All-Star break
Luke Doncic won’t be immediately ready to play when he joins the Lakers due to injury, but his return could come in the next week.
There’s plenty to process when it comes to the Luka Doncic trade even before thinking about the actual playing basketball part of things.
However, there will be a bit of a delay when it comes to that aspect. Luka Doncic has been out since Christmas Day when he suffered a calf strain. He is, however, very close to a return.
Longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein had updates throughout his rehab over the last month, first stating that Luka was looking to return before the All-Star break and later giving a target date.
Exactly one month removed from the left calf strain Luka Dončić sustained on Christmas Day, I'm told there is optimism in Dallas about Dončić making his return to the Mavericks' lineup before the All-Star break.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 25, 2025
More NBA from me: https://t.co/jkBEbr4mcX pic.twitter.com/RVTqJuazfY
Luka Dončić was targeting a Feb. 8 return from his calf strain, sources say, but long-term concerns about conditioning are said to have factored into Dallas' shocking change of course.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 2, 2025
Now Anthony Davis will partner Kyrie Irving ... and the Lakers have their heir to LeBron James.… https://t.co/SGmhMbg2Nc
Further to that point, Luka Doncic’s father appeared on a TV station interview and discussed a wide range of topics, including the status of his injury.
Luka Dončić dad:
— Lakers Empire (@LakersEmpire) February 2, 2025
"Luka's injury is basically gone. He's already training, everything is going as planned and everything is fine" https://t.co/wVur4zfaMu
The Feb. 8 return date while on the Mavs was aimed for a game against the Rockets. Coincidentally, the Lakers play the Pacers on Saturday, which could be a potential return date.
Around that date, the Lakers host the Jazz on Feb. 10 and then travel to Utah on Feb. 12 to close out the pre-All-Star break portion of their schedule. Due to that injury, Luka was not named an All-Star this season, which means more time to him to lose all that weight the Mavs claim he’s put on this season.
Jokes aside, his history of calf injuries, which have occurred multiple times in recent seasons, raises concerns. It’ll certainly be something to monitor moving forward, but hopefully, it won’t persist for the remainder of this season.
For now, expect Luka’s debut as a Laker to come in the next week. That is truly a wild sentence to type.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.