LeBron James or Luka Doncic 🤔 Who will be the face of the Lakers next season?! | NBA Today

LeBron James or Luka Doncic 🤔 Who will be the face of the Lakers next season?! | NBA Today

Luca Dantes, the allNNBA star for the Lakers, has signed a max contract extension, and this is 6 months to the day that he was traded to the Lakers. When you look at all the banners that are here and all the great names that are on the walls, how does it make you feel? It’s an honor. Obviously, I want to add one more up there. Uh, so that’s what we’re working for. And when you see Luca setting the bar looking in shape, the league is in trouble. What kind of gear do you expect out of Luca? MVP candidate. Oh, what a Luke Magic on display. Angry you know he wants to make a statement. Destroyer steps back. He’s red hot. He’s at his stop it. Honestly, I think we have what we need to compete for the championship cuz you know we’re going to go for it. Welcome to NBA today. All right, welcome in to NBA today. Hey, Amina Smith pulling in from Malikica Andrews. And yeah, raining money. Luca Dodic and the Lakers have agreed to a three-year $165 million max extension with a player option in 2028. Luca spoke to the media on Saturday after putting pen to paper. Take a listen. I was kind of thinking, you know, even uh obviously not at the moment when I got traded, but later on when I started playing, you know, I wanted to be here. Uh like I said, you know, this is a an amazing organization. uh we have a trust in each other. So I’m honestly I decided pretty quick. It’s an honor you know uh playing for this organization. Many many great players played here. So uh obviously when you look up here uh so many great names and what they achieved you know uh I want to be up there too once one day. Let’s welcome in our senior insider Sham Shirani and Shams. How did Luca and the Lakers come to an agreement on the first day he was eligible to sign that max extension? I mean, it starts with Luke Adantage himself committing and finishing really this coronation of him as a franchise player for the Los Angeles Lakers moving forward 6 months to the day that he was traded and arguably the most stunning sports deal ever. And listen, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, Luca Don’s agent, Bill Duffy, they’ve met uh and and spoke on Saturday morning, but this is a pretty quick negotiation. It’s been emotional last half year for Luca Donic ever since that trade to the Lakers from Dallas and what we’ve seen from Jeannie Bus, Rob Pelinka, then Mark Walter, the new owner there in LA is building that relationship with Luca Dodgers and his inner circle, a close rapport there. And he could have been a free agent next summer, but he commits to this three-year $165 million deal. And the question is why the three years? And it’s because this summer he was in line for $345 million supermax deal. if he was still a del a Dallas Maverick. Obviously, he was traded to the Lakers. And by getting that player option in 2028, he’s going to have 10 years of service, he’ll be able to opt out and be eligible for a 5-year, $417 million deal where when he’ll be able to recoup all the money that he lost by virtue of missing that super max. So, some business sense, but there was going to be some level of commitment with Luca Donic at some point this off season. Three years, 165. Look, all I hear is a lot of M’s and also just a new dawn here in LA. Sean’s with the latest. Don’t go too far. The Luca extension has been a key point for the Lakers this offseason and now they have him locked in through the 2028 29 season, which is a player option. Now, with Luca in LA for the foreseeable future, here he is on his mindset after the new deal. Yeah, honestly, I think we have a great team. Uh we have what we need to compete for the championship, you know. uh I’ll bring uh we’re already I mean brought uh try to win every game uh no matter what and you know we got some new great guys uh being on the team and as you know we’re going to go for it. All right we now welcome in our two senior riders Ramona Shelurn and Mark Spears. Ramona, you can hear the urgency in Luca Dantage’s voice right there. What’s your biggest takeaway from this extension? This feels like Luca Dantage’s team now. Like he isn’t just the guy that got traded to the Lakers. He isn’t the guy who is figuring out what the heck happened and why Dallas traded him. He is the face of the Lakers now and he was embracing it. Like he chose them. And I think this was a remarkable job of relationship building over the last 6 months by the Lakers. You have to remember this man went through an ownership change in Dallas. Mark Cuban sold the team and everybody in the thought was nothing was going to change there either. And oh, guess what? Everything changed. Yeah. Mark Cuban was not running the Dallas Mavericks very quickly soon thereafter. And so he’s got I wouldn’t blame him for having trust issues. Okay. Like the Lakers have been sold now or they’re going to be sold to Mark Walter and Jeannie Bus is transferring power to Mark Walter over the course of a 5year period or so. Um but over these six months that he’s been here, he had to a wrap his head around what just happened, b embrace Los Angeles and decide do I want to be here long term and and probably most importantly, do I trust these people? And so you got to give Rob Pelinka, JJ Reic, Jeanie Bus, and Mark Walter, who has had not just this meeting with him at the the contract signing in the Backstreet Boys concert, but other meetings with his representatives to say you can trust them. Yeah. You know, I’mma beg to differ with you. Okay. As long as LeBron James is in that locker room, they’re co-stars. He ain’t the face yet. When LeBron leaves, I I’ll get take the crown off and hand it over to Luca. And that was the elephant in the room there, right? Where was LeBron James at? I actually think it was a good thing that he wasn’t there. I I love that Luca got that amazing support from his teammates and you know maybe that Backstreet Boys ticket and PJ to Vegas like that might like you know what I think I will go. But like if LeBron’s there then it takes a spotlight off of Luke a little bit. He he deserved his day to be the guy to be the to enjoy his contract to get the praise for that to go to this con. I don’t know that LeBron James wanted to go see Backstreet. Probably not. Probably not. But is rocking out. Look at I know, right? I did hear I think Dave McMinn is reported that LeBron called and to me that’s the respect that he needed to show. So LeBron James, if LeBron wanted to be there, he would be there. I have been to many Laker press conferences where he was he wasn’t at his son’s first preseason game. He was with Bad Bunny in Puerto Rico. Remember, do you remember when Frank Bogle was hired? It was after the summer where Magic had played and they tried. Why was he there? Because he wanted to show support. Why? because it was his team, but there was drama going on, right? Yeah. Because Magic had stepped down and then they went through a very strange coaching search where they didn’t hire his guy Tyron Lou and they ended up with Frank Vogle and LeBron and there had been things that had been uncomfortable between the sides and LeBron clearly showed up and he was wearing like a neon pink hat at that press conference like, “Hey, by the way, I’m here.” Yeah. and I’m showing my But with his drama with the team right now, I think it’s it it it would have taken away from Lucas press conference if he was there. Yeah, you’re probably right. I think he made the right decision. I feel like you win and you lose in both situations because of who he is, right? Yeah. Because of who LeBron is, it doesn’t even matter. If he shows up, it could be a bad thing because he’s trying to, you know, take the spotlight or if he doesn’t show up, it’s a bad thing now because now you’re not in supporting Luca Don. So, I guess it’s a lose-lose situation. The fact that he called way, I think that’s a big deal. He called. He reached out and that’s really that’s that’s all that matters. All right. And check this out. After the extension, Luca put this out on X saying, “I’m also committing $5 million to help 77 young athletes around the world chase their dreams just like I did. Basketball gave me everything and I’m lucky to be able to give back and help the next generation.” Great to see Luca giving back and setting up the next generation of ballers. You can see it right there. Laker Nation was fired up on social media once Luca officially put pen to paper over the weekend. This is just a taste of what your timeline probably looked like when you logged on on Saturday. And I know the first thing that I did when the news broke was check with our front office insider Bobby Marks on social media to see the ins and outs of this contract. So Bobby, how did the Lakers maybe build from this point on with this Luca extension? I mean, I go back to that press conference on Saturday, certainly when Rob Pelinka addressed all the moves they’ve made and the one thing that stood out is that they are not content, right? They’re happy as far as what they had, but there’s still work to do. And I think there’s still a checklist here. So, for me, it’s the four things certainly to keep an eye on when this season gets going. The first is prefree agency, I call it. Should they get a jump start on next off season? Remember, there’s three players on expiring contracts. Ruy Hatchimore, Maxi Cleber, Gabe Vincent, $40 million in expiring contracts. Can they parlay that in into a player that can help now and also next year? The second, do the picks have value? They have a 2031 or 2032 first round pick. They have pick swaps in 5 years. They’ll only have one second round pick. We saw them certainly aggressive in that failed Mark Williams trade last February. The third thing is cap space a priority. The Lakers are in the driver’s seat next off seasonason. Projected $50 million in caps reason pays next in 2027 100 million. That is when Giannis and Nicole Joic could become free agents. But remember, we’ve seen potential free agents not become free agents with extensions. We just saw De’arren Fox come off the board. And then the fourth thing is the most important. How does LeBron and what does his future play into the role moving forward on the last year of his contract? We know definitely he will be an unrestricted free agent this off season. So it feels like the Lakers still have a lot of work to do this off seasonason and going into next season. But Bobby Marks, the checklist is good. Thanks so much for the insight right there. And you aren’t the only one who has questions about LeBron’s future. Here’s David Menan asking Rob Pelinka about that very topic at the presser. Do you anticipate LeBron finishing his career with the Lakers? Yes. So all the interactions we’ve had with with LeBron and his camp, Rich in particular, have been positive and supportive. Um so very professional and Rich has been great. Um the dialogue with him has been open and constant. Um so that to answer that question and then in terms of LeBron’s career, I think the number one thing we have to do there is respect he and his family’s decision in terms of how long he’s going to play. I think that’s first and foremost. and we want to respect his ability to come up with his timetable on that. Um, I think that’s that’s really important. But if he had a chance to retire a Laker, that would be great. All right, let’s bring in the man who asked that question. David Menman here with us covering the Lakers. And Dave, everyone took a notice that LeBron was not at that Luca Presser. What message is being sent there? Well, I mean, I can report according to several sources that LeBron on Saturday morning after Luca Donuch inked his contract extension officially and before he went and greeted us reporters and actually took a photo with a bunch of his teammates, LeBron James facetimed Luca to congratulate him on the deal. And certainly as Ramona alluded to, LeBron has done so much to support Luca in welcoming him to LA since the trade in early February. He spoke about his willingness to play off ball. Obviously, that first game that Luca played at Crypto.com Arena. LeBron James was not the last Laker introduced in the starting lineup. That honor went to Luca as a show of a come on in. This is your team, too. And the relationship between Luca Donuch and LeBron, I’m told, involves a lot of respect and reverence. The greater question is question is where does LeBron stand with the Lakers? And I’m told that the statement that Rich Paul gave to Sham Shirania back in June when LeBron opted in still stands. That LeBron and his representatives will be monitoring the Lakers moves that they make cuz they recognize that there’s only a very limited amount of time left in his career and he wants to be competing for championships, whatever time that is. Yeah. So, there’s a bigger issue happening there between LeBron and the Lakers and beyond who was and wasn’t there. What stood out to you most about seeing Luca Donuch now versus the tail end of last season? Well, certainly it wasn’t smoke and mirrors and it wasn’t Photoshop in that Men’s Health article and spread of photos. Luca Duchess looks fantastic. I didn’t just see him in a suit on Saturday, last night on Sunday. I saw him in a tracksuit uh downtown Los Angeles at a Jordan Brand event, a tracksuit and and a t-shirt. And the guy looks confident. He’s carrying himself, you know, a little bit taller, making eye contact, more smiles. As Ramona mentioned, there was a degree of shell shocked uh nature that he brought with him day in day out that second half of the season after that that trade from Dallas. He’s a comfortable person right now. He looks great and certainly I reported that he with the work that he’s doing to bring to this year’s situation, he wants the Lakers to do that work as well. In a meeting with Rob Pelink and JJ Reic back in May at a dinner, Luca Donuch told those decision makers for the Lakers, listen, I want to get back and win now. I’ve been to the finals before. I got a taste of it. I’m going to get back no matter what, but I want to be on board with you guys to let’s be urgent about our opportunity right in front of us to get back as soon as possible. No Photoshop in 2025. An anomaly. So, we know that Luca Donuch, he’s putting in the work for real. Dave McMenman with the latest.

On NBA Today, Shams Charania, Marc J. Spears, Ramona Shelburne and Dave McMenamin join to discuss the Los Angeles Lakers extending Luka Doncic’s contract and debate what this means for the future of the franchise and LeBron James.

0:00 Luka’s contract extended
1:30 Shams gives details on the extension
5:30 Where was LeBron when Luka signed?
8:10 How do the Lakers build going forward?
12:29 What seems different about Luka from last season?

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