Luka Doncic's Future With Lakers in Jeopardy After Team Mishandles LeBron James Saga

Luka Doncic's Future With Lakers in Jeopardy After Team Mishandles LeBron James Saga originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

NBA superstar Luka Doncic is eligible to sign up to a four-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason, though prominent analysts around the league see cracks developing in that potential outcome.

Doncic can secure $229 million on a deal that would keep him under contract in L.A. through the 2029-30 campaign. Bobby Marks of ESPN predicted earlier this offseason that if Doncic signs an extension with the Lakers on or after August 2, when he becomes officially eligible to do so, that he will opt instead for less money on a three-year agreement. Doing so will bring Doncic back to the negotiating table one summer earlier with 10 years of NBA service on his resumé, which will open up a much more lucrative ceiling on his next max contract.

But Doncic doesn't actually have to do anything this summer. He can opt not to ink an extension and play the fourth season of his five-year $215 million deal in 2025-26. He can then opt out next summer and hit free agency, which Windhorst detailed on the Tuesday, July 15 edition of "NBA Today."

"This is a stress max right now for Luka. The Lakers are a little bit stressed out about it," Windhorst said. "If he signs it, relief for the Lakers. ... If he does not sign it, he can be a free agent next summer when there are going to be 10-plus teams with cap space. You will see teams begin to open up maneuvers to try to chase Luka."

Keeping his options open will allow Doncic to apply pressure to the Lakers' front office in the same way his teammate LeBron James tried to do earlier this summer after opting into the final year of his contract.

However, James will be 41 next year and isn't part of the team's longterm plans, which severely limits his leverage. Doncic, however, is in the complete opposite situation and Los Angeles will want to do everything it can to keep him happy and clad in purple and gold.

Nick Wright of Fox Sports suggested Wednesday that part of keeping Doncic assured about his position within the organization involves L.A. treating James with appropriate reverence, which Wright asserted the franchise has failed to do thus far this summer.

“I would have said it’s 95% that Luka will resign this summer… I now will say it’s 75%”@getnickwright still thinks Luka Doncic will be a Laker long term, but it’s not the lock he thought it was pic.twitter.com/qxbaaKpMxf

— What’s Wright? with Nick Wright (@WhatsWrightShow) July 16, 2025

"I think the way the Lakers screwed up the Dorian Finney-Smith thing is potentially troubling, and I think the way the Lakers are not so subtly dissing LeBron James about how excited they are to be done with [him] -- I can't imagine Luka is happy about that," Wright said. "I would have said it's 95% that Luka will re-sign this summer. I now will say it’s 75%. I would say it is not a lock."

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 16, 2025, where it first appeared.