The Los Angeles Lakers have locked down their new star, Luka Doncic, for the next few years after he signed a three-year $165 million extension with the team. While the deal bodes well for Doncic, LeBron James was named one of the biggest ‘losers’ in the aftermath of the contract by Sam Quinn of CBS Sports.
According to Quinn, the Lakers have made Doncic the priority, taking his suggestions for the team instead of listening to James and his thoughts for the franchise. He also wrote that if a younger James were in Doncic’s place, he likely would have urged the Lakers to trade draft picks for a ‘win-now’ plan, instead of the slow-play strategy they are seemingly taking now.
“If a young LeBron James had been in Dončić’s shoes, there is a good chance he would not have signed this extension,” Quinn wrote. ” The James playbook, where he is still as young and valuable as Dončić, likely would have been to refuse to re-sign in an effort to convince the Lakers to trade future draft capital and hand out long-term deals for a win-now push.”
James has been a bit despondent this summer, not attending Doncic’s press conference, and having his agent Rich Paul give a surprising statement to Shams Charania after picking up his player option for next year.
LeBron Wouldn’t Have Done What Luka Did
Quinn’s take comes with evidence, stating that what James has done in the past shows he may have taken a different route if he were in Doncic’s place.
James has urged the teams he’s been on to go all-in with him, trading picks and assets for top players, as seen with Anthony Davis in 2019. He also has a history of leaving teams when unhappy, the Miami Heat in 2014, for example.
“James frequently signed short-term deals in his prime in order to maintain flexibility. When he wasn’t happy with the direction of a team he was playing for, he left it,” Quinn wrote.
The Doncic deal is a slow-play. The Lakers could have used their assets to land a big name, but they didn’t, instead opting to sign veteran players on shorter contracts. This goes against what James has done his entire career.
At 40 years old, he doesn’t have a lot of time left, and it shows the Lakers are prioritizing Doncic rather than the few years James likely has left in the tank. Therefore, he’s a loser coming out of this deal.
“If Dončić had expressed skepticism with the plan the Lakers presented him with, they may have had no choice but to throw caution to the wind, start trading draft picks, and desperately hope that would be enough to convince him to re-sign,” Quinn wrote. “Doing so might have increased Dončić’s championship odds this season, and by extension, James’ as well, but it would have cost his team long-term flexibility. That doesn’t matter to James. Clearly, it does to Dončić.”
Doncic Also Named a ‘Loser’ From The Extension
In a bit less serious fashion, though it does have major financial implications, Quinn also named Doncic a ‘loser’ from his latest deal. Though the Slovenian will make roughly $55 million a year from 2026 to 2029, he had the chance to earn even more.
“As a Laker, Dončić was eligible to sign an extension for up to four years, starting at 30% of the salary cap in the first year of the deal,” Quinn wrote.
If he had never traded from the Dallas Mavericks, Doncic was in line to sign a deal for five years worth about $335 million. He also could have signed a four-year deal worth close to $220 million in Los Angeles. Regardless, Doncic is poised to have the chance to ink a contract worth more than $400 million with the Lakers in 2028, so it’s not all bad.
“Dončić did use the structure of this contract to set himself up to recoup some of these of losses,” Quinn added. “ESPN projects that he will be eligible at that point for a five-year, $417 million contract which would pay him more than $1 million per game. However, Dončić obviously has to wait three years to secure such a contract.”
The Lakers look to be going all-in on Doncic, expecting him to stay long-term and slowly build around players he fits with best. That goes directly against the James game plan. While they did make offseason additions, James would have benefited from the team trading for another big star and making a strong title push next year.
For the first time in his career, James is no longer a team’s number one option, something that could prove fatal for his future in Los Angeles.
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