Luka Doncic Is Officially The Next Face Of The Lakers After Agreeing To A 3/$165M Extension To Stay In LA
Michael Reaves. Getty Images.The minute Luka Doncic was traded to the Lakers, he was immediately dubbed the next franchise cornerstone. The superstar player to carry the Lakers into their next era as they navigate a post-LeBron world. What made that trade interesting at the time when it initially happened was the possibility that Luka could potentially decide that he may want to control his own destiny and take his talents elsewhere. If things didn't work in LA or he was pissed about being traded from Dallas, Luka had the option of taking matters into his own hands and finally having control over his basketball future.
The Lakers clearly knew about this possibility, because look at everything they've done since the trade. They've basically exiled LeBron, instead deciding to give Luka the keys to the Lakers kingdom. The team's free agency plans are all focused around the idea of building a roster to maximize Luka. He needed a P&R partner, so they brought in Deandre Ayton. He needed some support on the perimeter defensively, they brought in Marcus Smart (sigh). He needed some off ball shooting to help maximize his gravity, so they brought in Jake LaRavia. The point is, the team has done their part in committing to Luka and building around him.
In return, Luka has officially decided to commit to the Lakers
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Unless you were holding out hope that Luka would somehow decide to hit the open market, after everything we've seen since February, this feels like a formality if anything else. And while Luka technically missed out on the "supermax" because the Mavs thought he was a fat piece of shit, as you can see above, Luka is going to end up doing just fine. A nice little guaranteed $165M over the next 3 years and then another $417M to follow. As a reminder, Luka won't even be 30 by the time he signs that second extension, so something tells me that's a lock to happen considering he'll be right in the middle of his NBA prime years.
Now that things are settled and Luka is officially the next face of the Lakers, he now becomes fully responsible for carrying the weight that comes with such a distinction. If you're going to be that guy for a team/franchise like the Lakers, you simply have to win a title. At least one, at a minimum. LeBron won't be around for too much longer to provide that shield, and before you know it, that weight is going to fall solely on Luka's shoulders. When you look around the NBA at other similarly aged star players, they've done it. Jayson Tatum and SGA got their rings in back-to-back seasons, with Tatum being 25 and SGA 26. MVP-level players like Jokic and Giannis, players Luka is often compared to in terms of status and standing in the league, have their rings. Hell, if you look at all the All NBA 1st team guys, Luka is the only one without it. He's made the Finals, which at his age (26) is impressive, but the time has come to finally break through, and that expectation given the team he is now leading into their next era, will always exist.
We should also take a moment to revisit the Luka trade now that we know he's staying long term. Not only did Rob Pelinka pull off the heist of the century (even if it was shady as hell and probably all a fix), but as it turns out, it wasn't for just a few years. In reality, it's probably more like the next 10+. That has to sting for Mavs fans a little bit, even if they knew this may have always been possible, and now that Luka is skinny as hell, I wonder how the Mavs front office feels about all this. It was always a disaster trade, and the only saving grace was that there may have been a 0.000000001% chance Lula didn't extend.
But he did, and now he's officially the face of the Lakers for the foreseeable future. Good luck!
I don't mean this, I hope it fails miserably