EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — One year ago, Luka Doncic could not have envisioned this moment. He expected to follow in Dirk Nowitzki's footsteps as a lifelong Maverick. Instead, there he was Saturday in the Lakers' practice facility, wearing a suit and having just signed a contract extension, talking about chasing a ring in purple and gold
.
It may have taken a minute to get there after a shocking mid-season trade, but now Doncic is where he wants to be — in Los Angeles, with the Lakers.
"I was kind of thinking, obviously not at the moment when I got traded, but later on when I started playing, I wanted to be here," Doncic said. "Like I said, this is an amazing organization. We have a trust in each other, so honestly, I decided pretty quick."
After he made that mental decision there was not much drama leading up to Saturday, when Doncic chose the Lakers, putting his signature on a three-year contract max contract extension that could be worth up to $165 million (but more likely ends up around $160.8 million, based on the NBA's salary cap projections).
"Six months ago to the day, the Los Angeles Lakers chose Luka Doncic through a trade where he came to our franchise," Lakers GM Rob Pelinka said. "Today, Luka Doncic chose the Los Angeles Lakers."
“Skinny” Luka
The talk of the Lakers' offseason has not been Doncic's contract extension, but his post-trade revenge body — Doncic looks noticeably thinner and conditioned, even when wearing a suit.
Doncic talked about his process this offseason.
"For the first month, I didn't play basketball at all," Doncic said of his conditioning plan, echoing what he told Men's Health magazine. "We were more focused on other things. So I think that kind of sparked, the first five days was really hard without basketball. I actually didn't know what to do, but after it was easier. But physically, weightlifting, balancing, those stuff, and then after one month we started playing basketball, too."
As for the trade sparking a "revenge body" transformation, Doncic tried to sidestep the idea.
"I would just say, it was like a fresh start for me," Doncic said. "Obviously, I was on my way of doing it [already], but it was just kind of a fresh start. I had a little more time to get my mind on basketball, just doing other things. So, I would just say, like, a fresh start for me."
Doncic talks titles
It's hard to escape the history in the Lakers' practice facility. The banners from the team's 17 NBA titles hang over the courts, while the walls are lined with the retired names and numbers of Hall of Fame Lakers legends — Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and many more.
Doncic doesn't shy away from that, he leans into it, saying multiple times he wants to add to the banners and see his name on the wall of this facility someday.
He also thinks this Lakers roster has a chance to be special.
"Honestly, I think we have a great team," Doncic said. "We have what we need to compete for the championship. I'll bring whatever I can... We got some new great guys being on the team. We're going to go for it."
The Lakers, who had for years tried to build a roster to maximize LeBron James' skill set, shifted to building around Doncic after the trade. That meant bringing in a rim-running center this summer and trying to add 3&D wings who can knock down shots and space the floor, taking advantage of Doncic's pick-and-roll mastery.
"In conversations with Luka, it was really important for us to get a rim, lob-catching center," Pelinka said. "And we feel like getting Deandre Ayton was huge. It's going to unlock so much in Luka's game. As you can tell in the pick-and-roll reads, he's the best in the world, and I think Deandre is going to really help.
"And then, our thesis for our roster was to get younger. And I think getting some 3&D players like Jake LaRavia that we could add at his age [23], 42% shooter [from 3], having wings that can shoot and play on both sides of the ball, I think is also really important. And then being able to add Marcus Smart, Defensive Player of the Year a couple years ago. I think there's a chip on his shoulder to be back at that level and put the league on notice.
"I think having players like that surrounding both Luka and LeBron, guys that can defend multiple positions is really important. So we like the upgrades we were able to make to the roster."
Whether those upgrades are enough in a stacked Western Conference will play out when the NBA season opens in 80 days.
In the short term, after a night celebrating this new contract (saying it was a "surprise" what was planned for him), Doncic is off to Slovenia to compete with his national team at EuroBasket. Doncic's love for his country and his passion for
representing it should never be questioned.
Now, neither should his desire to be a Laker — he has now chosen them.
