Having secured Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia, the Lakers now have their bare minimum needs to say that they are headed into the 2025-26 season with a strong roster. But securing that roster’s cornerstone down to the team is the next biggest objective on the table for the Lakers.
Rob Pelinka and LeBron James have acknowledged that going forward, Luka Doncic will be the cornerstone of the Lakers to build around. With these moves, they have now shown Luka Doncic that they are willing to add key assets to the team to build a roster around him.
According to Brian Windhorst, the NBA Insider with ESPN, the next biggest decision for the Lakers is to sign Luka Doncic on a long-term extension with the team. He goes as far as to argue that it could be the most important decision across the league, as it would impact their plans for next summer.
“I almost would argue the most important thing in the whole NBA this summer is Luka Doncic, whether he extends or not, because that frames so much of what the Lakers are going to do, and frankly, the whole league would do.”
During his time with the Mavericks, Luka Doncic was initially expecting a five-year $345 million supermax extension before he got traded to the Lakers. Now, on August 2, he will become eligible for a four-year, $228 million extension with the team, a $117 million pay cut from his initial expectations.
There were speculations earlier that Doncic may need to take a three-year, $165 million contract with the Lakers, and moreover, the Lakers claimed that they focus on giving two-year deals so that they have free cap space in 2027. But locking down their franchise cornerstone on a long-term deal is the obvious way to go for the Lakers.
Nonetheless, if the Lakers cannot agree on terms with Doncic and his representation, then the former Magic Johnson Western Conference Finals MVP award winner will become an unrestricted free agent in 2026-27. The Lakers would not want that to happen, and hence it should be the highest priority for them to secure his future with the team in the long term.
Several teams, like the Rockets and Spurs, have plenty of room in their cap space over the coming seasons to make lucrative offers to Doncic if he becomes a free agent. Therefore, his decision on the extension could severely impact the plans of multiple teams for next season’s summer.
Doncic’s potential long-term running mate on the Lakers could be Austin Reaves, another young star who is expecting a contract extension this summer. While reports claim that Reaves allegedly did not like to play with Doncic, the Lakers seem to envision this duo in their backcourt for a long time.
Reaves is currently eligible for a four-year, $89 million extension with the team, and if he waits another season, he could command a five-year $240 million contract from the Lakers. Therefore, the Lakers’ front office has a lot of crucial decisions to make this summer that could decide the long-term future of the Lakers.
