Why Luka Dončić extension talks with Lakers may take longer than expected

The Los Angeles Lakers addressed their need for a starting center when they signed Deandre Ayton after he was bought out of his contract by the Portland Trail Blazers. They added wing depth after signing forward Jake LaRavia, who is a career 37% 3-point shooter. They lost Dorian Finney-Smith to the Houston Rockets, but aside from that, the Lakers have been ticking off a lot of boxes in their offseason plans to improve for next season.

LeBron James has opted into the final year of his deal, which could signal that his time with the Lakers may be coming to an end after next season. That would be a far bigger deal if L.A. didn’t already have his successor on the roster in Luka Dončić, who the team traded for in February. Every move the Lakers have made signals they’re ready to fully enter the Dončić era, which is why the next move in L.A.’s offseason plan is to get the 26-year-old phenom to agree to a contract extension before next season starts.

When is Dončić eligible to sign a contract extension?

Because Dončić was traded at the February deadline, he won’t be allowed to officially sign a contract extension with the Lakers until Aug. 2. While many Lakers fans would love it for a contract extension to be announced as soon as that date rolls around, they might have to wait a while for that deal to get done. That’s not because Dončić is holding out or playing any sort of mind games or hardball with the team, but because he’ll be competing with the Slovenian national team in the FIBA EuroBasket tournament from Aug. 27 to Sept. 14.

Given Dončić’s loyal commitment to playing for Slovenia whenever possible, he may opt to wait until after the tournament concludes to discuss any contract negotiations, according to ESPN. That would also align with previous patterns, where Dončić didn’t sign his rookie max extension with the Mavericks in 2021 until after he finished playing for Slovenia at the Tokyo Olympics. So if a deal isn’t announced until mid-September, that shouldn’t be too alarming.

How much can the Lakers offer Dončić?

Dončić is eligible to sign a four-year, $228 million extension with the Lakers. On the surface, it may seem like it’s a no-brainer that Dončić would sign that deal. However, there’s a lot of nuance to this situation that may lead him not to sign that exact deal. 

First, because the Mavericks traded Dončić, it makes him ineligible for the five-year, $345.3 million supermax extension he would’ve gotten had he still been with Dallas. In addition to how poorly the Mavericks handled the trade in general, the fact that Dončić lost out on roughly $117 million surely left a bad taste in his mouth. If Dončić wants to recoup the most amount of money back from what he lost by being traded, signing that four-year deal may not be the path he wants to take.

Instead, Dončić could opt to sign a shorter, three-year deal worth roughly $165 million, with a player option for the third year, which would extend through the 2028-29 season. The reason for this path would be to allow Dončić to become a free agent sooner, which would coincide with the completion of his 10th year of NBA service. At that point in time, if he declines his player option for the 2028-29 season, it would make him eligible to sign a contract worth 35% of the salary cap. Assuming that the salary cap rises 10% each season, that would allow Dončić to sign a projected five-year, $418 million deal.

There’s also a third option, which is that Dončić could not sign an extension at all, play next season with the intention of declining his player option for the 2026-27 season and become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2026. That would be the most alarming situation for the Lakers, as other teams would certainly pony up to try and lure Dončić away from Los Angeles.

So, is Dončić staying with the Lakers?

All signs point to yes. He said so himself back in May, when asked if his loyalty now shifts to the Lakers after being spurned by the Mavericks, he said, “Of course.” When followed up by another question on whether he wants to stay in Los Angeles, he said simply, “Yes.” That’s comforting if you’re the Lakers, because if there’s one thing we know about Dončić, it’s that he’s fiercely loyal. He said on multiple occasions since being traded by the Mavericks that he envisioned playing his entire career in Dallas. That abruptly changed, and now he’s loyal to the Lakers.

But L.A. can’t rest on its laurels of thinking Dončić will just give them blind loyalty forever. After all, he didn’t ask to be traded to the Lakers, nor did he sign with the team as a free agent. He was sent there by the team he thought he’d play with forever. While Dončić isn’t the type to pressure a front office or make demands, the Lakers need to ensure they don’t waste this golden opportunity to build a dynasty around Dončić.

That starts with signing him to an extension. Whether that’s a four-year deal or a three-year contract, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is getting ink to paper from a guy who could very well lead the Lakers to multiple championships in the future.