While the Los Angeles Lakers are going to have to figure out how to keep LeBron James this offseason — or decide whether they even want him back to begin with — they also have to figure out how to deepen their relationship with Luka Doncic, their new franchise player.
While Doncic signed a huge three-year contract extension last summer just six months after arriving in that stunning trade, it may not be a foregone conclusion that he will be a Laker for life. He can opt out of his contract in 2028, and he may not be willing to wait patiently for a few years for the franchise to build a championship-caliber roster around him.
But with new majority owner Mark Walter in charge, there is reportedly one thing Doncic likes about his current relationship with the franchise, per Dan Woike and Sam Amick of The Athletic.
“Dončić has had regular contact with new Lakers owner Mark Walter and has been impressed with the level of communication, league sources said,” wrote Woike and Amick.
Last spring, general manager Rob Pelinka and coach JJ Redick met with Doncic and talked about how they planned to build a winning team around the superstar. This offseason, Los Angeles will have tens of millions of dollars in salary cap space, and there could be multiple scenarios in which it builds a roster around Doncic that can contend for the NBA’s grand prize as soon as next season.
L.A. finished 53-29 this season despite multiple key injuries, including the Grade 2 hamstring strain that forced Doncic to sit for the final five games of the regular season and all of the playoffs. Without him, it got swept in the second round of the playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder after upsetting the Houston Rockets in the first round.
Doncic averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.6 steals a game during the regular season and won his second scoring title while placing himself on the periphery of the MVP discussion.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Luka Doncic impressed by ‘level of communication’ with Mark Walter
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
