Ownership Sale Makes Signing Contract Extension More Appealing To Luka Doncic

When the Los Angeles Lakers completed a blockbuster trade to acquire Luka Doncic at the deadline, the focus and timeline of the organization shifted from LeBron James to the 26-year-old.

With Doncic becoming extension eligible in August, the Lakers need to put together a roster to his liking in order to get him to sign the new contract and begin a long-term partnership together. It’s no secret that the team needs a center and also needs to improve the defense to get back into championship contention.

A potential hiccup took place on Wednesday when reports came out that the Buss family is selling their majority stake in the Lakers to Mark Walter, who also owns the L.A. Dodgers.

Doncic already went through a significant ownership change with Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks, and that resulted in him shockingly being shipped out of town to L.A. Because of that, it would be reasonable for Doncic to have his reserves about the Lakers changing owners without giving him much notice.

Walter is known to be a great businessman and owner, however, so according to Tim Bontemps and Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Doncic is excited about the change and is now more likely to sign the extension in August:

A source close to Doncic said that Walter’s deep pockets, combined with his results with the Dodgers, makes L.A. that much more appealing for the 26-year-old superstar.

When Walter bought the Dodgers, he immediately invested in their infrastructure, building from the ground up when it comes to staff members, analytics and medical departments, etc.

This is something the Lakers have needed for a while now as despite the natural advantages they have in place when it comes to market size, winning transition and geographic location, they have not been able to build sustained success in over a decade. The NBA salary cap definitely has its limitations that will not go away, but Walter should be able to impact other areas of the organization in a big way.

Doncic took to social media on Thursday morning to express his excitement about the change, and now he can start to begin planning his long-term future as the face of the Lakers as they enter a new era.

Luka Doncic & LeBron James excited about Lakers ownership change

According to reports, both Luka Doncic and LeBron James are excited about Mark Walter buying the Lakers from the Buss family. Neither is under contract long-term, but it’s fair to expect both to be on the team when the Lakers report to training camp for the 2025-26 season.