The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t have the highest-profile summer, though the franchise did answer an important question about its longterm future involving the buy-in of superstar Luka Doncic.
Doncic displayed his loyalty by leading the charge in the recruitment of Marcus Smart, a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year, who agreed to a buyout with the Washington Wizards and subsequently inked a two-year value contract to join Doncic in L.A.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN explained on Tuesday, July 22, why Doncic’s actions are a meaningful harbinger of his future career plans.
“It turns out that Luka called [Smart] a couple of times,” Windhorst said. “Regardless of whether Marcus Smart works out, regardless of what the context was, I think the key here is that Luka is acting in concert with the Lakers front office. … Luka got the message from the Lakers and followed up on it, apparently several times.”
Windhorst noted further that multiple competitive teams around the league had interest in Smart, so Doncic’s efforts likely made a real impact on Smart’s final decision.
“And that is not Luka’s natural state,” said Tim McMahon, Windhorst’s co-host and ESPN reporter covering the Dallas Mavericks, where Doncic played his entire career until February. “The first several years of his career he basically said, ‘Hey, I play. The front office puts the team together. I don’t want anything to do with it.’ And he didn’t grow up in the AAU culture where you’re constantly recruiting guys.”
“I believe he also had some contact with Deandre Ayton,” McMahon continued, “and I actually think that’s the most significant part of all this because it does show that he’s not only on the same page with the Lakers front office, but he is an active participant.”
Luka Doncic Can Sign Longterm Deal With Lakers in August
GettyLos Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic.
Doncic is just 26 years old and already a five-time first-team All-NBA performer.
Los Angeles traded with the Mavericks to acquire him last winter, but Doncic has just two years remaining on his contract, including a player option for the 2026-27 season. He is eligible to sign an extension in L.A. in early August for up to four years, but he can also decide not to do so and re-enter free agency next summer.
Should Doncic choose the latter option, the Lakers’ future will be in flux and the Slovenian phenom will hold the kind of leverage that LeBron James long possessed over the franchise, allowing him to impact its personnel decision-making and the timing of those calls — for better or worse.
That kind of power has a real draw to it regardless of the player, though it’s unclear if Doncic feels he needs it after the Buss family sold a controlling interest in the team to Mark Walter and the ownership group of the Los Angeles Dodgers at a record valuation of $10 billion.
Lakers Can Offer Luka Doncic Anything He Might Want in Years to Come
GettyLuka Doncic and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The new ownership group can offer a variety of benefits to Doncic, both directly and indirectly via organizational outbuild. Those include outspending most of the league on the coaching staff, player development, scouting, player amenities, health and fitness training and a variety of other services that create competitive advantages alongside player luxuries.
This iteration of the Lakers has also already shown a commitment to building around Doncic longterm by exercising restraint this summer. Los Angeles has been clear about its intentions for 2026 and 2027, when it can potentially pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo via a trade (both years, if he’s on the table) or Nikola Jokic via free agency (2027 should he decide not to extend in Denver).
Nick Wright of Fox Sports contended earlier this month that the Lakers may have turned Doncic off with their treatment of James following his decision to opt into the final $52.6 million year of his contract before immediately turning around and applying pressure to the organization to exhaust its resources in the name of immediate winning. But Doncic’s actions with regards to the recruitment of Smart and Ayton contradict Wright’s hypothesis.
That said, the truest test will come in early August when Doncic becomes extension-eligible. Financially it makes more sense for him to sign a three-year deal with Los Angeles and re-enter unrestricted free agency after 10 years of NBA service. Thus, leaving a year on the table in his next deal won’t necessarily be reason for any pessimism.
What would be cause for fans to look at the Doncic glass in L.A. as half-empty rather than half-full would be a decision on his part not to ink an extension at all and render the Lakers’ 2025-26 season uncomfortable all around.
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