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Insider Offers Telling Update on Luka Doncic’s Lakers Future

The Los Angeles Lakers got new life last season when they were able to pull off a stunning trade with the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic. Nobody saw the deal coming, but the Lakers now have a face of the franchise for years to come.

Well, at least that’s what they hope. Doncic only has one more year left on his contract, and he’s eligible for a contract extension this offseason. The Lakers are going to offer him a max deal, so it’s up to him whether or not he wants to sign it.

There’s always a chance that he’d turn down the money and test free agency next year. That’d be a very stressful situation for the Lakers to deal with after giving up so much to get him. Luckily, according to The Athletic’s Dan Woike, Los Angeles doesn’t seem too concerned about their ability to retain the superstar.

“It’s gonna be early August. He’s extension eligible Aug. 2. I think they’re really confident, Colin,” Woike said on “The Herd.” “I think they’ve been in contact with him early in the summer about their plans for the organization. I think when they made the deal to get him, I think they were confident that they would be able to secure him in the long term. There are things about Los Angeles to not like. Nobody likes the traffic here and stuff like this. But the one thing we know about Luka Doncic is, well, two things we know about him.

“One, he loves the big stage, and it’s a huge stage. What’s a bigger stage than playing at Crypto.com in front of those stars? And I think the second part of it is like, this is like a guy that doesn’t necessarily love being famous. And you might think Los Angeles, well, it’s full of famous people. You can move pretty anonymously as a famous person in Los Angeles, should you choose, because there’s always someone else famous in your circle and stuff like that. I think he’s really comfortable there. I’m pretty sure the Lakers are gonna be able to secure an extension, it’s just kind of a matter of for how long.”


Should Doncic Sign an Extension?

On the surface, it makes sense for a player like Doncic to maintain some flexibility. He’s young and one of the best players in the NBA. He’s going to get a max contract offer from any team he’d want to go to.

However, there’s also a lot of uncertainty that comes with being on an expiring deal. He wanted to spend his whole career in Dallas, so he may not be eager to move cities again. The Lakers have proven they’ll do whatever they can to make him comfortable, and being the face of the franchise in Los Angeles is one of the most glamorous positions in sports.


Lakers Can’t Afford to Mess This Up

The Lakers have to lock Doncic down this offseason. If they can’t do it, general manager Rob Pelinka has to be on the hot seat.

Los Angeles has no future without Doncic. They barely own any of their future draft picks, so they aren’t rebuilding through the draft anytime soon. The Lakers need Doncic to commit long-term, or they have a serious problem on their hands.

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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports

The post Insider Offers Telling Update on Luka Doncic’s Lakers Future appeared first on Heavy Sports.

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