Luka Dončić’s trip to Spain has brought with it a lack of clarity. With no real precedent of a player going there during the season and no firm idea on a timetable for a return, there isn’t much known about what’s going on and when he could be back.
It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that there were some conflicting reports initially on Monday about him coming back to America. According to longtime NBA reporter — and someone who is well-connected with Luka and his camp — Marc Stein, Luka is expected
back in LA on Friday, a day before the Lakers open the playoffs at home against the Rockets.
That report was later backed up by Dan Woike of The Athletic.
This came after Shams Charania of ESPN provided a bit more insight into what Luka has been doing in Europe, but also initially reported he would be back on Tuesday. Later in the day, he said he would be back on Friday, which seems to be the consensus at this point.
The “majority of his time in Spain” line does stick out, but it’s because Luka was allowed to travel back to Slovenia while in Europe to see his kids. According to the Slovenian outlet Ekipa, after completing his first set of injections, Luka traveled to Slovenia with the Lakers’ approval.
Here is a section of the article, translated from Slovenian:
It is clear that Dončić also received the blessing of the Los Angeles Lakers, who of course support Luka in every decision he makes. From going to Madrid for treatment, to traveling to Slovenia for a short time in between two series of therapies.
The Lakers are aware that the mental well-being of their first star is just as important as the physical. And it is clear that Dončić’s association with his two children will fill his soul and heart and have a beneficial effect on his mental state.
After the brief trip to Slovenia, Luka returned to Madrid for a second set of injections and will now head back to Los Angeles this week.
Austin Reaves is not close to return
In the initial Shams tweet above during his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” he also provided an update on Austin Reaves, and not really an encouraging one.
Austin Reaves, he’s out for [the] majority of this first round series. Most likely, probably, the earliest for him is going to be the first week of May.
This doesn’t rule him out entirely for the first round necessarily, but it leaves a pretty tight window that he could return. Looking back on previous first round series for the Lakers, last year’s Game 1 against the Wolves came on April 19 and the series ended on April 30. In 2023-24, Game 1 against the Nuggets was on April 20 and Game 5 was on April 29.
This year, Game 1 against the Rockets will be on April 18. While the full schedule is not yet out, to even give Austin a shot of returning for the first round, the Lakers will need to go at least six games and even then, that’s would only be the very beginning of the first week of May.
Realistically, Austin’s only chance of returning this year is if the Lakers make the second round, which would be a tall task.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
