The Los Angeles Lakers have one European superstar in Luka Doncic, and they might soon look to add another. The Lakers will reportedly focus on acquiring Nikola Jokic from the Denver Nuggets once their ownership situation is resolved. It would be a bold plan for new owners Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner, but how realistic is this?
Well, Andy and Brian Kamenetzky of Locked On Lakers don’t believe a Jokic trade is very realistic.
“The front office really shouldn’t be spending any time thinking about whether or not this could happen,” Brian said. “It’s because they really can’t. They can’t make it work. Nothing is ever impossible. If Nikola Jokic says, ‘… I want to be traded. I’m gonna go sign with the Lakers. You want anything of value, you trade me now.’ He does that thing; let’s just say he does that.
“The Lakers would then need to engineer a trade or figure out a trade that actually would be worth Denver taking,” Brian stated. “As opposed to perhaps just letting him walk, and getting the space and blowing the whole thing up or whatever might be. The Lakers would need to figure out a way to rope in second teams, third teams, possibly fourth teams. If you want to put together a package, that would be tempting to the Nuggets.
“It’s not going to be Walker Kessler, a pick swap, three second-rounders, and Jarred Vanderbilt, who’s probably still under contract at that point,” Brian continued. “That’s not going to get it done. They have so little to offer that short of tearing down what they have to get there, which is a colossally bad idea, and a path they won’t walk down.
“They don’t even have the stuff to pretend to make this work, at least in terms of draft capital and things like that,” Brian added. “Maybe if [Cameron] Carr turns into a star real fast or [Adou] Thiero blows up. But likely, there’s just not a trade package the Lakers can put together without a lot of help.”
The Lakers really can’t put together a good enough package. They have no tradeable first-round pick over the next seven years. All they can offer to the Nuggets are players, a 2032 first-round pick swap, and second-round picks.
Now, that draft capital and Doncic might be enough to get Jokic, but the Lakers obviously won’t be trading the Slovenian. There’s no one else on their roster, though, who is anywhere near as valuable.
Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler have value, but neither is a centerpiece in a Jokic trade when there is little draft capital involved. You also wouldn’t want to include both of them in that deal if you’re the Lakers.
Now, even if the Lakers had their draft picks and some quality players to offer, Andy pointed out another issue they’d face.
“Forget just the draft assets and trade assets, and whatever,” Andy said. “It’s difficult to come up with a deal where you’re having to match Nikola Jokic’s almost $60 million in salary in 2027 or $62.8 [million], if he opts into the next deal. It’s very difficult to manufacture something like [that]. Walker Kessler would need to be involved.
“Forget the idea that if you’re bringing in Jokic, you, at that point, have no more need for Walker Kessler,” Andy continued. “‘Cause the two of them can’t play together. You need to include Walker Kessler purely because of $30 million. It just would be extremely difficult from a math standpoint before you even get into the what do the Lakers have that Denver and third team, fourth team, X, would actually want.”
Long story short, this just doesn’t look like something the Lakers can do. Jokic, who averaged 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds, 10.7 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in 2025-26, is obviously incredible, but this is too difficult a deal to pull off. There is also very little chance of the Serb actually wanting out.
Jokic has repeatedly said he wants to spend the rest of his career with the Nuggets. The only reason there is even chatter about the three-time MVP going elsewhere is that he isn’t signing a four-year, $278 million extension this offseason. Why is that the case?
Well, Jokic will likely opt out of his $62.8 million player option for 2027-28 to become a free agent and then sign a five-year, $359.5 million deal with the Nuggets. Could a disastrous 2026-27 campaign change his mind? Maybe, but if he’s healthy, the Nuggets are not going to collapse. So, expect Jokic to remain in Denver for years to come.
