Lakers sent clear warning on Luka Doncic after opening-night loss to Warriors

The Los Angeles Lakers looked nothing close to a contender in the west on Tuesday night in a 119-109 loss to the Golden State Warriors at the Crypto.com Arena. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were a well-oiled 1-2 punch, but there may as well have been no other strikes thrown by the purple and gold on opening night.

Deandre Ayton, the team’s only other double-digit scorer, couldn’t hold onto the ball and was too slow defensively to keep up with Steve Kerr’s relentlessly attacking offense. The bench was outscored 33-18. JJ Redick’s team didn’t put up much of a fight outside of Luka Doncic’s 43/12/9 and Austin Reaves’ 26/9/5.

The performance has Yahoo Sports’ Ryan Young worried that the Lake Show might not have much juice outside of Doncic. And Los Angeles’s poor effort has Young all-in on the Warriors looking like a contender in its first full season with Jimmy Butler.

Young doesn't see relying on Luka all season as sustainable.

“Though it’s still early, this Warriors group looks well-rounded enough to compete with the best in the Western Conference when things are clicking offensively. The Lakers, on the other hand, are relying on their one player capable of winning league MVP honors this season. That strategy, while it will undoubtedly carry them for a while, likely isn’t sustainable,” Young wrote.

Rob Pelinka took no chances this summer, and Lakers are worse off for it

Looking back at it, signing guys who were discarded by other franchises, like Ayton and Marcus Smart, was a lazy way for Rob Pelinka to add talent without actually doing much work. They played like guys who are meant to be deployed in a pinch, not key rotational players.

Pelika’s philosophy could mean that the team could be satisfied re-signing Reaves to a massive deal this coming offseason and making smaller moves around the fringes to build around him and Doncic. Laker fans would hope Reaves isn’t the first player Pelinka doesn’t feel like risking an overpay on to bring back after bringing back Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Rui Hachimura on inflated deals. Who knows, though.

Either way, the bold wheeling and dealing this year was confined to the Doncic-Anthony Davis superstar swap from this past February. Not doing much else this summer, when there were tradable pieces the team could’ve cashed in on, could keep Pelinka up at night.

Laker fans hope LeBron James alone can save this team. That's worked in the past, but James is turning 41 in December. Father Time is coming for "The King."

And since James is the Lakers' only hope, Los Angeles is square in Father's Time's sights as well.