DECISION TIME ⏰ Luka Doncic’s Lakers extension deadline is getting close 👀 | NBA Today

DECISION TIME ⏰ Luka Doncic’s Lakers extension deadline is getting close 👀 | NBA Today

This is Hollywood, the most famous and most glamorous place in the world. I’m looking for limousine coming in. It’s a place of dreams, hopes, and riches. People come from all over the world to see the stars who’ve given Hollywood its greatness. One of the best teams in basketball ever. Does America believe in magic? You bet we do. I like that. Can the Lakers are the world champions? God, I love you guys. Hey, look at this. Everybody just get ready. Sit back and uh let’s enjoy it. Yeah. So, the torch, it’s been passed throughout the storied history of the Lakers here from Kareem to Magic, Shaq to Kobe, and the clock. When it strikes midnight tonight in the calendar, it turns to August the 2nd. We’re closer to LA becoming Lucastown as the window for Dodich to sign that max extension. It opens and it’s been highly publicized on this network, health magazines, cities around the world to cities closer to home. We’re looking at you here, Dallas. Luca’s rededicated himself. You can see it here. shedding some weight, looking to be in the best shape of his NBA career, which is a scary thought when you consider that Luca is the only player in NBA history to average 28 and 8. And the only other players to even average 25 and five in each of their first seven seasons, Oscar Robertson and LeBron James. So, we now welcome in our NBA reporter Dave McMenan, who’s covering the Lakers, as well as our front office insider, Bobby Marks, here. Dave, I’m going to start with you. as the window to sign this max deal inches closer. Where is Luca Donich right now? Well, literally, Malikica, Luca Donic is in Chicago right now. He is in the middle of a promotional tour for Jordan Brand. He for the first time in his NBA career came back to the States in the summertime to break up his vacation in Europe. And it started in New York and now he’s in Chicago. that did a boat tour yesterday and then he’s going to make his way to Los Angeles and obviously figuratively where he’s at is going to be contemplating a fat contract offer on his plate as you mentioned come August 2nd and hey it’s a it’s a kind of a big moment right now 6 months ago to the day was when he was traded from the Mavericks to the Lakers and a half year later he’s going to get to decide whether his life for years to come will remain in Los Angeles. Six months to the day. I didn’t realize it. It’s funny how life works like that sometimes. And and you frame this as a decision here, Dave. Bobby, is it cut and dry? This is a contract that Luke is going to sign or does he have some more decisions that he was going to make on how this deal could actually look? Malik, I think the decisions that he’s going to have is going to be the length in the contract here. He’s eligible for four years up to $229 million. That’s starting on Saturday. The one option certainly we can focus on is taking a shorter contract, which would be three years, $165 million with a player option. And that third year, and why the shortterm option is because that third year, that player option year would have him with 10 years of service in the summer of 2028. And get ready for this number. He would now be eligible for five years, potentially $417 million that summer. So all that money he lost in the supermax from Dallas, he could definitely recoup that and then some 3 years from now. Wow. Wow. 5 years potentially $417 million. Bobby Dave, thank you so much for your insight. We will be monitoring this closely here over the next 24 hours. Ramona, I’m curious as Bobby lays out these numbers. It seems like it makes the most sense for Luca to sign the three-year 165 because five year I’m going to say it one more time to Aman who played in the league at some different five years $417 million recouping some of that loss here from Dallas. What will this signify for Los Angeles? Whether he signs three years or he signs four. I I think if he signs any years that signifies a lot. That means because he didn’t ask to be traded here as we know. I mean, you have the you have the video of him throwing the phone to prove it, right, when he got the trade. But he has embraced Los Angeles. He’s done everything to signal that he’s happy here. Um, I know that he’s had good meetings and conversations with everybody in the front office. They’ve been in touch with the the new owners who are going to come in here. And let’s talk about that number you said again. 5 years, 4147 million. Uh Mark Walter who owns the Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t bet an eyelash giving show Otani $700 million. Okay salad guys it’s a different thing. 700 this like that’s that’s just I mean it’s just an it’s just a lot of money for all of us, right? But they got it. They got it. And if he signs here and commits to the Lakers that is they win the summer. That’s it. There’s teams out there right now waiting to see if Luca extends with the Lakers cuz if he doesn’t, he’s the biggest free agent to hit the market in years. You know what I like about him? When he walked into LA, he embraced it. Yeah. Gave money for the fires, gave money to, you know, fix a co mural and one thing about the Lakers, which is pimp by them. Can I say that? Yeah. Okay. You know, that shump is they always have a star. Yes. I’ve never seen any team sports do this other than Real Madrid. Like you got Jerry West and Elgen, Magic Kareem, Showtime Lakers and Shaq and Kobe and then LeBron comes and then you got the guy after LeBron, right? I mean that’s incredible. I mean it’s nice city to sell at the same time, you know, but what do all of those players have in common? All of them. They all brought championships to Los Angeles. All of them brought championships to Los Angeles. And what I thought was interesting in the the discourse over the last week that that Dave McMenan and others have been reporting is that Luca isn’t signing this as a feel-good moment of he’s a loyal guy and he wants to stay with the Lakers. He’s signing this because he’s also saying, “Okay, let’s do it. Let’s go win. Let’s go win now.” Aman, no, without a doubt. I think that when you look at somebody like Luca and you look at what he came from, the reason he’s so good is because he comes from a winning brand of basketball. when he was playing overseas, when he was younger, of course, he was playing pro earlier, but when you look at his collection of work, all you see is winning qualities. And now we want to see him win on the big stage. LeBron James, I Let’s read the tea leaves. All right, I’m not going to pretend to know what this means because the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, he posted this image of himself working out in front of, as the internet was quick to point out, some Clippers signage, the caption, quote, “Say whatever you want, but you damn sure won’t be able to say I didn’t put in the work. We’ll see what happens when I no longer exist.” And then some expletives as the little cherry on top here. Now, what had happened, Ramona? That’s that’s my question. What had happened? I know this this is the old Clippers facility. This isn’t necessarily this isn’t like a new he’s not working out. He’s not down. We know he lives on the west side of LA. I think the old Clippers facility in Playa is closer to where his house is than the Lakers facility. Okay. And also his agency rents the space. So he works out. All of that tracks. Okay. However, there were 12 photos in that c in that gallery that he posted on Instagram and only one of them had Clipper signage and it was the first one. Okay. Now, the caption to me is equally as interesting because when he says it’s basically saying, “You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone.” Just when I’m when I’m no longer here. And that to me feels like he has what he’s signaled through social media and a lot of his posts and a lot of his actions all summer long, which is he does not feel appreciated right now. This is awkward. This transition from Luca to LeBron where LeBron was going to write his own Hollywood ending. This is the place he wanted to end his career. He wanted to have control over how many years that was going to be and on what circumstances he was going to play with his son. And now he doesn’t have control over it because they didn’t offer him more than just this year. He picked up the player option. They didn’t discuss any years after that. This is the last year with the Lakers. That’s awkward. And and that that’s and he’s never had a situation in his career where he has not had full control of where he’s going to play and how many how much longer he’s going to play. Without a doubt. I see it. Uh what you saying like the story book ending. I get that. Um, and he deserves that, by the way, without a doubt. But, um, I think we’re all one missing the point that that’s that’s a Jay-Z caption. That’s that’s a JZ. Like, let’s see what happened when I no longer just f this and then he hangs up. You hear the headphones come off on the song. So, it’s like it’s one ode to Jay-Z, right? But he’s also telling you guys like, hey, I what else can I do out here? You know what I mean? Y’all got a new face coming in soon. I won’t be here, but I just want y’all to know it’s it’s going to go my way, the way I said it’s going to go as far as going out on my own terms, going out playing healthy, and this is like the healthiest career we’ve seen, is it not? I’m giving you the this is Aman’s Pulitzer is on the way here for Dex. That was great. We’re dissecting this. That was excellent reporting of How could we go from Toy Story to Jay-Z in one show? I just it’s it’s a I I can’t I can’t go away from it. I I just can’t go. I when I read the caption, I don’t immediately think how a fan would think. I just I’m hearing Jay-Z, you know what I mean? But I’m also like, “Wow, we are nearing the end of what we’re calling greatness. We’ve been witnesses the whole time and now we can’t.” Right. And by all accounts, LeBron has been very happy with Luca. He’s been a fan of him for a long time. He tried to sign Luca to his his under his shoe umbrella. He’s a fan of his. This is not Yeah. Are we reading the tea leaves? Aman just read them. I would love for for for to see that pick and roll for a little bit, man. We see that pick and roll for a little bit. Brian, let me get one, two years, you know, pick and pop. You know what I’m saying? Long enough for Bronnie to get out there, do his thing, and then Bryce, he was also wearing a Bryce. Go ahead. Teams, start figuring out how you’re going to say goodbye to this man. He’s giving you a warning. He’s I remember going to see Kareem’s last game in Golden State and they gave him a boat. What is everybody going to give him? I feel like the farewell tour is starting. It’s gonna include the All-Star game. It’s perfect for that. Get ready to get your final gifts and get the rocking chair out of there. I just feel like this is the end. This is also what he does every summer. Like this is late July August where he’s like remember a couple years ago he was like #washk and I was I don’t remember anybody calling him wash king. I think somebody might have to be a joke like I’m working hard in the Aussies. I’m up at 5:00 a.m. This is my motivation and I’m sharing it with all of you. Shift it back to the NBA here. Let’s start something. There’s still some dominoes that are left to fall heading into August. Russell Westbrook, Al Horford, unrestricted free agents. Jonathan Kaminga, Josh Giddy, Cam Thomas, all restricted free agents. Ramona, what’s your biggest question looking at those gentlemen? I I just want to know where Jonathan Kaminga ends up with because he he’s going to be with the Warriors. I don’t think he’s going anywhere else. They’re not even talking to other teams anymore. But does he do the qualifying offer at 8.7 or does he take the offer that’s on the table right now 2 years 45 million or do they do they compromise a little bit? Maybe give him an extra year um to to give something there. But I I think he’s going to be with the Warriors. The only question is when because he’s he’s been it’s been a while and for at what price. You know, one of those other free agents you saw on there, Al Horford, he’s connected to Kaminga. He’s one of four free agents that the Warriors would like to sign, I’m hearing. Yep. That are waiting on Kaminga, right? It’s all held up. And I think he really has to make a decision quick because the Warriors are starting to lose patience. What would you like to see happen here, Aman? Um, as as soon as you can to Inky, I think that u especially if you know you’re not going anywhere, getting the guys to in the locker room to play hard and play with you, play for you. I think they like to know that you’re with them and be signing. That’s a good way to head into the weekend here. Hopefully, you see some resolution. Again, tomorrow is the day Luca Donuch can sign an extension. We’ll be back with you on Monday. Take the money.

On NBA Today, Dave McMenamin and Bobby Marks join to discuss the latest on Luka Doncic’s contract extension talks with the Los Angeles Lakers. Then, Malika Andrews is joined by Ramona Shelburne, Iman Shumpert and Marc J. Spears for more reaction on the subject.

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