Luka Doncic signs three-year, $165 million max contract extension with Los Angeles Lakers

“I just signed my extension with the Lakers,” Doncic wrote on X. “Excited to keep working to bring championships to LA and make Laker Nation proud. Grateful to the Lakers, my teammates and all the fans who’ve shown so much love since day one. This is just the beginning.”

After making the historic Doncic trade, the Lakers went to work to build around him. In the frontcourt, they brought in a new big man by signing DeAndre Ayton to a two-year, $16.6 million deal after he secured a buyout from the Portland Trail Blazers. They also signed Marcus Smart after he agreed to a buyout with the Washington Wizards, further building up the defense.

Charania said Doncic played a key role in recruiting both Ayton and Smart as he goes all-in on the Lakers. With a new extension – and the potential for a huge payday in 2018 – Los Angeles could be on its way toward its goal of having Doncic in town for the next decade.

“This is six months to the day that he was traded in February to the Lakers in arguably the most stunning sports deal ever,” Charania said on SportsCenter. “This is a massive change for Luka Doncic. Being in Los Angeles, it has been an emotional last six months. But he commits now to the Lakers through the next three years. Jeanie Buss, Rob Pelinka, the new owner Mark Walter there, they’ve built a close rapport with Luka Doncic and his inner circle to get him to commit here. Now, Luka Doncic, he’s going to be the face of this Lakers organization moving forward. When they acquired him in that trade, they wanted him to be the face for the next decade. Already this offseason, I’m told he recruited Marcus Smart, DeAndre Ayton to the Lakers.

“Most importantly, about the money, as well. In that trade, he lost out on a super max contract with the Mavericks this offseason. But in 2028, he’s going to have a player option in that deal and sign a projected five-year, $417 million contract that will then allow him to recoup all the money that he lost in that super max that he missed out on this offseason.”