Organization ‘Very Confident’ Luka Doncic Will Sign Extension In August

When the Los Angeles Lakers dealt for Luka Doncic earlier this year, it was clear that the organization felt they had acquired the player who will be the face of the franchise for a very long time. But as it currently stands, Doncic could opt out of his contract next summer and become an unrestricted free agent.

The likelihood of that happening is slim though, and the Lakers are working hard to lock Doncic down to a contract extension when he becomes eligible on Aug. 2. It remains to be seen what Luka will do, but in an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, The Athletic’s Dan Woike said an extension will almost certainly be coming at the beginning of next month:

“It’s gonna be early August. He’s extension eligible Aug. 2. I think they’re really confident, Colin. I think they’ve been in contact with him early in the summer about their plans for the organization. I think when they made the deal to get him, I think they were confident that they would be able to secure him in the long-term. There are things about Los Angeles to not like. Nobody likes the traffic here and stuff like this. But the one thing we know about Luka Doncic is, well two things we know about him. One, he loves the big stage, and it’s a huge stage. What’s a bigger stage than playing at Crypto.com in front of those stars? And I think the second part of it is like, this is like a guy that doesn’t necessarily love being famous. And you might think Los Angeles, well it’s full of famous people. You can move pretty anonymously as a famous person in Los Angeles should you choose because there’s always someone else famous in your circle and stuff like that. I think he’s really comfortable there. I’m pretty sure the Lakers are gonna be able to secure an extension, it’s just kind of a matter of for how long.”

There have been no signs of any discontent with Luka since he joined the Lakers and by all accounts he loves being in Los Angeles, it’s just a matter of how long of an extension he will sign. A four-year extension would get him the most money immediately, but he could also do a three-year deal, which would get him to 10 years of service in the NBA, allowing him to then sign a supermax contract in 2028.

Whichever route Doncic prefers, the Lakers will be happy to go as the franchise views him as the player who will lead this team for years to come and he has been putting in the work this offseason to prepare for that journey.

Luka Doncic loves playing with LeBron James on Lakers

While Luka Doncic’s future with the Lakers is not in question, his superstar teammate LeBron James is set to enter his 23rd season and is on the final year of his contract. Whether LeBron will continue to play beyond this year is unclear, but Doncic loves playing with him in Los Angeles.