Why Luka Doncic’s time with the LA Lakers could be very short-lived

The NBA and the entire sports world has slowly come to terms with Luka Doncic’s arrival in Los Angeles. The stunning trade sent shockwaves around the league, and Doncic is acclimating to life as a Laker. However, there’s a chance that Doncic won’t be in Los Angeles as long as people might think.

The Dallas Mavericks told the world that they traded Luka Doncic in order to improve their team in the near future, but they were lambasted for their decision to mortgage their future. The Lakers were lauded for receiving a foundational piece that could anchor their franchise for the next decade or more.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka told the Los Angeles Times right after the trade that Doncic will lead the Lakers “for years to come.” Pelinka also called him a “young global superstar.”

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While it seems like everything the Lakers touch turns to gold, there’s a decent chance that Pelinka’s visions for the future might not unfold the way the thinks it will.

Doncic is under contract with the Lakers through the 2025-2026 season, where he will make just below $46 million, as noted by Spotrac. He then has a player option worth nearly $49 million for the 2026-2027 campaign.

That’s obviously a lot of guaranteed money to pass up, but it seems like there are whispers he might not be inclined to pick up that option. Sam Vecenie of The New York Times wrote: “The best way for Doncic to maximize his financial situation over the next decade would be to decline his $48.9 million player option for the 2026-2027 season and sign a shorter-term, three-year extension with a player option in 2028-2029.”

ESPN’s Bobby Marks co-signs what Vecenie wrote, saying that Doncic can grab every last dollar by playing his future out in this manner. The question remains, would he sign that extension, or any long-term contract arrangement with Los Angeles?

While he was with the Dallas Mavericks, Doncic was eligible for a five-year, $345 million supermax extension, but that type of contract is now off the table. As per Spotrac, the largest extension he could sign with the Los Angeles Lakers is four years and $229 million.

According to Basket News, the most another team could sign him for after 2026-2027 is $219.4 million for four years. That’s pretty comparable to Los Angeles’ maximum offer.

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Since the money has evened out for Doncic, he wouldn’t necessarily stay with Los Angeles for a slightly larger payday. This is one reason why the chance he could leave is very real.

Doncic wrote in a farewell message to Mavericks fans: “I thought I’d spend my career here and I wanted so badly to bring you a championship.” It wasn’t like Doncic was clamoring to leave the only team he had never known throughout his NBA career, and was blindsided by the business of the sport.

Doncic was involved in a trade that he never thought would ever happen, but he will have a say in how the rest of his career plays out in the coming years. With the chilling reminder of what happened fresh in his mind, Doncic will keep all of his options open in a way that he might not have in previous years.

Right now, Doncic has the wonderful experience of playing with LeBron James, but this won’t last forever. Los Angeles is going to need to replace James whenever he decides to call it quits, and that won’t be an easy task. Granted, the Lakers are arguably the most appealing destination of any in the NBA, but they’ll still need to fill the void with someone who can accentuate Doncic’s strengths.

What if Los Angeles fails in that regard? The team is already patching their frontline together, which was a strength of the roster Doncic enjoyed in Dallas. If the Lakers want to bring in a second superstar after James, then chances are they’ll need to part ways with key players like Austin Reaves or Dalton Knecht to make it happen.

Doncic is no stranger to the competitiveness of the Western Conference, and things aren’t going to get any easier in the near future. FanSided’s Elijah Hamilton believes that Doncic might go to a team like the Houston Rockets, which has quality depth up and down the roster.

If that’s not appealing to Doncic, he might also consider joining a team in the Eastern Conference, where the path to the NBA Finals feels a bit easier than it does in the West. There are many legitimate scenarios that involve Doncic spending less than two years with the Lakers.

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