THIS is what Luka Doncic’s Lakers extension says about his future 💰 | The Hoop Collective

THIS is what Luka Doncic’s Lakers extension says about his future 💰 | The Hoop Collective

from New York to the West Coast last week. You both went from Europe to the West Coast. That’s true. Europe to New York to the West Coast. That’s right. Um and so I think you know obviously huge news a couple days now uh since we’ve we’ve been away. But uh Luca signing a three-year $165 million extension on the first day he signed it. He set it became obvious he set a schedule around it. Um, the Lakers planned out a press conference and then Mark Walter, the Lakers incoming owner, um, if reporting is correct that it was him who did it, I’m not 100% sure. I’m just know what I read a little bit on this, but they had a a post, uh, signing journey over to see the Backstreet Boys in Vegas at the Sphere. Um, so the key on that whole thing beyond those details is that this was planned out. You know, there were multiple players that went, you know, you know, suites were acquired. They were all wearing matching uh outfits. Um I don’t know. Is is it a thing that everybody wears white when they go to the Backstreet Boys? Is that a thing? I don’t know. I got caught up in post Backstreet Boys Uber traffic in Vegas and I’ve I’ve got a little PTSD from that. Um but it it certainly is a thing that this was all orchestrated. The Jordan Brand tour Yeah. orchestrated to where he would be in LA for this. The other thing that that is very very clear is that Laura Beth Sager, who’s Luca’s uh long-term uh business manager, um was was Durk Nitzky’s long longtime publicist before that, she is essentially an extension of the Lakers organization at this point, which is the polar opposite of Luca’s last year in Dallas. That is interesting. I want to talk about that in a second, but I think I I think the point is that Luca decided a while ago he was going to sign this extension and then set his summer schedule up and everything was lined up. The Lakers knew it was coming and everything was done. And I and that isn’t just important for logistics. It’s important for where Luca is with with the Lakers. He is, you know, bonded to them. And that was not something we were 100% sure was going to be the case um when the trade happened because he was shell shocked. We talked about this um throughout the last 6 months that the Lakers lost the ability to um give him the supermax which is repeatedly locked down players in this spot that he had no financial incentive to sign this summer. No NBA contract financial uh incentive being the face of the Lakers. There’s some financial advantages that come along with that. And he could make a little bit. I mean, he could make more money, but then if he signed elsewhere as a free agent, but it’s not the just so fans know, it’s not the cavernous difference that’s between the supermax and the regular extension. It’s a small enough difference that you at least left open the possibility he could explore free agency. Yeah. And so, and we also had talked about where it made the most sense for him to take a three-year extension instead of four because he could re-enter free agency for the bigger number. Um, but player option, right? So, he So, again, so for fans that know, he signed a two-year extension with a 30 player option. He opts out after the second year. He can then sign a 5-year deal for I believe 400 and 400 and change. Yeah, 400 and change. And I believe the final year of the deal it’ll be north of $90 million by current cap projections by Bobby Marks which yeah I mean that’s eight years that’s eight years from now but I will just say that I think the key is Luca is now locked in for the Lakers for the next three seasons. It was one season and if it was one season without an extension we’re talking about um minor emergency. Now the message is he’s a Laker and McMahon he said things at his press conference announcing this which they didn’t have to have a press conference announcing this you know and you know when you have a guy you know we’ve seen this you know especially a guy who who is overseas based in the off season they didn’t have to have a press conference but he felt it was important to do the press conference and so I just want to get your takeaways you know about better than anybody else in the media your takeaways from the way that all played out. Luca is operating in a in a way, you know, in in in conjunction with the Lakers front office in ways that he never did in Dallas, even though it was fully his intent to be in Dallas for his entire career. I think the shock of the trade has has kind of woken Luca up to the importance of being businesssavvy in the NBA. Um, and we again he had never been this active in recruiting players like he was with the Andre Aton and with Marcus Smart. You know, he had never been as active like he certainly had voiced his opinion um in the in the Nico Harrison years in terms of hey, we need upgrades or you know, we need to get this type of player, that type of player. He had never been this kind of extension of the front office like he was or like he has been like he is right now with Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Bus, you know, going back to what was it? Craigs of Hollywood Wendy where uh where they had the meeting where you know you got us a real nice table one time by being a big deal. Um you know, going back to the meeting, right? I mean, by the way, we had a reservation. We walked in, they just seated us a little early. It wasn’t like we got that special of a treatment, but they were but they were very kind. very kind there. Good rub. Um, probably some gluten-free options if Luca’s eating there. Um, and and and and listen, there’s a lot of things that are different about Luca. Gluten-free is certainly one of them. Um, now I will be honest with you, like Luca’s done more media, I think, over the last week than maybe any full season of his career combined in terms of like outside things. Just to just to jump in there for one second, I have to admit uh I mean I was aware he was going to be in New York because he was g I knew he was going to this Rucker Park thing, but I have to admit I was pretty stunned when I got an alert that Luca Donuch was joining the Yankee broadcast the other day. So like the Men’s Health cover, what is going on with this? The Men’s Health cover and I guess there were three stories. I read one of them. Um it’s a bit much. It’s a bit much. Like look, it’s cool that you you’ve committed to conditioning. I don’t think you needed the victory lap, too. And this has been like a long victory lap, but and essentially Oh, he’s he’s sticking it to the Mavericks. Okay. Huh? You said sticking to the Mavericks. Sticking it to the Mavericks. Oh, sticking it to the Mavericks. The whole revenge bod thing. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, this proves the M. Look, the Luca didn’t have to get in shape to prove the Mavericks made a a bizarre decision, but Luca’s body changing so much this summer does confirm that those conditioning concerns are absolutely real. Like his sudden commitment to conditioning, like bro, you’re several years into your NBA career. I mean, a victory lap. I would say about time. And there have been like his second or his first summer after his rookie year, he had this kind of conditioning commitment. Um, a couple years ago when he got the body team, he came in leaner, but like I don’t know, man. The the whole victory lap thing to me has been a little bit odd. and the article that I read like there was this suggestion and I don’t know if this came from Luke or if this is just the writers but that he was left without guidance like he had to like during the summer he was on his own trust me the Mavericks would give him all the guidance that in the world none of that guidance was feast every night and throw down a bunch of beers and oh he’s European Goran Drag is European actually from the same hometown and he he managed to stay in great shape his entire career. So congratulations on your newfound commitment to conditioning. The accountability is on Luca that the accountability is not on anybody not on the Mavericks, not on anybody else but Luca. And I’m glad that he’s now taken those steps. But the victory lap has been weird. Yeah. And I I know you’re not insinuating this, but there have been some insinuations from people that like there were lots of people around the league who were worried about his conditioning to the point where they wouldn’t have offered him the supermax last summer like Nico Harrison was going to do. I just would like to clarify for people there’s one person in the NBA who didn’t want to pay uh Luka to supermax contract. It happened to be the guy who was running the team he was on. That’s why he got traded. the idea that there was like justification for the Mavericks trading him. I I’m sorry that is not correct. All of your and I know you weren’t saying that. All of your points about All of your points about the uh the victory lap have been amusing. Part of the reason we are collectively amused by this is Luca, which is totally within his rights, has never exactly been Mr. I’m going to do interviews with anybody ever. And now he’s doing interviews across the globe this week. It’s been amusing especially like the fun interview like like the like the the Yankee thing and yeah it’s like going to the the the during the broadcast of the Yankee game. I was like, “What?” I literally was like, “What? What is why is he talking to Michael Paul O’Neal?” The the other amusing thing about the men’s health deal was the correction that Oh, no. Luca did not actually have a 42 inch vertical 2018 combine. Actually, he did not intend the combine because he was busy. Good excuse. He was busy helping Real Madrid win the Euro League. He’s winning final four MVP of the Euro League. Yes. But, uh, the whole the whole men’s health thing is was pretty bizarre, just to be honest. like NBA player commiss to conditioning during the summer should not be like breaking news. Yes. Well, look, at the end of the day, to your initial point, Brian, for all this other stuff we’ve talked about, if if Luca had not agreed to this extension, you said it would have been a m minor emergency. No, it would not have been a minor emergency. It would have been a five alarm fire and this entire season would have been about what is Luca Dodric going to do next summer, right? Yeah. you would have probably been the biggest player to hit free agency since LeBron in 2010 if you’re looking at or I guess Durant in 2016 is the better one. Um that like that guy totally in his prime, no health issues like Kawawaii in 2019. Obviously coming off all the health issues before that. Everybody knew he was going to end up going to LA. Um he would have been that level of player hitting free agency and this whole season about what are the Lakers going to do? Are they going to be left holding the bag? What kind of moves are they going to make? And to me, like when we talked about this a couple weeks ago, my personal opinion was Lucas shouldn’t sign the extension and should put the Lakers feet to the fire and let them prove that they can build a team around him and have a cohesive plan to have a good enough team for the next couple years before he extends. But he did them a big favor locking in this extension, saying he’s going to be there, giving them the runway to build the team out. like this is a a gift that he’s given the Lakers and now the question is going to be what can Rob Pelinka and Jeannie Bus and Mark Walter do to repay that? Can they build a good enough team around him? They went and got Marcus Smart Deandre like they did like we’ve talked about. They had about as good as a summer as they reasonably could have with the assets they had. They don’t have a ton of ability to go all in right now. They’ll have three first round picks next summer. They’ll have mountains of cap space next summer almost no matter what they do with their team. We’ll see what happens with LeBron next summer. But that to me is the real question going forward. Okay, the Lakers would probably be pretty good this year. Maybe they could be really good if Luca and LeBron are healthy and locked in and awesome, which are certainly capable of. But then what do they do next summer? What do they do the summer after that? And by signing this extension, he not only takes all the heat off of this year, he gives them real runway to try to build the best possible team around him. And it’s going to be very interesting to see if they’re going to be able to do that. Cuz I will just point out that for the past several years, the Lakers have had LeBron James and Anthony Davis and have failed to build a cohesive contending team around those two guys, which is a very difficult thing to not be able to do. Like, you should be able to have a really good team with those guys. And for the most part, they’ve been a playin quality team. And while Lucas, well, they finished I understand what you’re going to say here. You’re going to say that they were only three games out of the into the playoffs this last year, but they did finish third. No, I I meant No, I was saying with AD and I was saying with AD and LeBron the last several years, they were they were in the playin most of the time. They were not a repeated championship contender, that’s all. Yeah. Well, I would I think this gives the Lakers optionality and um they don’t know which path it’s going to be. I don’t want to make I I don’t think they’ve got it all figured out because there’s certain unknowns. They have positioned themselves to pivot away from LeBron James after this season. They’re not going to frame it that way, but by not offering him a new contract, they have positioned themselves to do that. And we should also point out, I’m sure people saw this, but it was very noticeable who was not at this presser on Saturday. No LeBron James, no Bronny James. Worth pointing out. Yeah. Yeah. I will just say when when it comes to LeBron’s attendance in the summer, I’ve learned to be careful not to overreact to that because he’s got a lot of demands on his plate. I mean, LeBron posted a video or pictures on Instagram the day before working out across town. Okay, having said that, it was a noticeable absence. Yes, I’m not saying I’m not saying it means he’s not going to be there for training camp, but it was a noticeable thing that he wasn’t there. Mark Stein reported that LeBron facetimed his congratulations, but it was a noticeable absence by a pretty prominent family on the Lakers roster. Yeah. So, let me just say having said that the press conference and plans were set in stone many days out. We know this because Jared Vanderbilt and Maxi Cleba and Rui Hachimura and you know there was like there was like the vast majority of the roster was there and they also went to Vegas. You know, they cleared their day to get on the plane to go to Vegas to go see the Backstreet Boys. So maybe LeBron doesn’t like Backstreet Boys. He likes Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny. Yes. Backstreet Boys. Oh, that’s LeBron’s era, buddy. LeBron is a was a kid in the 90s. Like literally a kid in the 90s. Um, he he makes more sense for him than than anybody else, including Luca. But anyway, I have learned to not overreact, but it is notable that he and he did not attend. Now, I was going to say this gives the Lakers optionality. Mhm. They are in position where they can pivot away from LeBron next summer that they can go out and seek acquiring a high a high dollar player, be it through trade, be it through free agency, however it might happen. They have that option on the table. They have the option on the table of keeping LeBron, of LeBron having a great season with Luca, wanting to extend his career again and then and then doing that. and they have, you know, the option of completely flipping the roster over and not having to worry about Luca not being bought in. Now, obviously, they wouldn’t do that without having Luca on board, but this gives them the ability to say, “We can focus on getting the maximum maximum out of this season, and if we have to transition away from LeBron, we can still do that. They’re not locked in in any way.” That optionality is valuable. it is not as valuable as a championship supporting cast around Luca that they are going to have to try to make sure that they get into place and maybe they are close to it right now. Uh we don’t believe they’re close to it. We think they’ve got a very competitive team. We don’t see we don’t we don’t see them as a championship contender, but maybe Luca will be great this year. Maybe he will win his first MVP award. We’ve been expecting to see that type of season from Luca. Maybe this is going to happen. Maybe maybe DeAndre Aton becomes the player that people thought he would be when he was the number one overall pick. Like there’s a lot of may. Yeah. Jackson says Luca’s third in odds for MV MVP. Um yeah, I mean look, if the Lakers, you know, we’ve talked, you know, we when we did the overunder pod last week about the West, we talked about how if the Spurs are in the top six, you know, that’s going to mean Victor is almost certainly going to be in the top five at minimum for MVP. If the Lakers are back in the top four in the West again this year, Luca is gonna be right in the mix for MVP for sure because it’s mean that he, you know, the the revenge tour led to a big season. And and the one thing you pointed out, Brian, about the optionality the Lakers have it, the biggest thing is they can go in any direction they want now to build a championship caliber roster around Luca. They’re not they don’t have to microwave it. And if they want to go get a star, if they want to build depth around him, this even more than pivoting away from LeBron, this gives them the flexibility to build the team the best way possible. Well, and there’s a few certainties here that we know for absolute sure. Number one, Luca Don, which is one of the best players in the world, has been throughout the course of his career, even with the consistent conditioning issues. Number two, Luca is in the best shape that he’s been in since at least his second NBA season, if not his entire NBA career. Number three, Luca Donuch is by nature an extremely loyal person. What’s he doing later this uh this month? He’s playing Euro Basket for the Slovenian national team, which he he plays for them every single game that he can if it’s a competitive situation when that’s not the norm for NBA players when, by the way, he could have easily jumped onto a bandwagon with Spain back when he was a teenager, but he chose to play for Slovenia because again, I think that is an indication of his natural sense of loyalty. And then the fourth thing we know is that Luca views his relationship with the Lakers as a partnership, right? And and you can you can criticize a lot of things that the Lakers have done, but they have taken they’ve taken a great uh approach in building trust with Luca and building a rapport with Luca and building a relationship with Luca. Now, they had one advantage that they had was the coaching staff. Luca already had a relationship with JJ Redic. You know, they were briefly teammates. They really clicked. We talked about Luca doesn’t do much media. He did do a couple of podcast appearances with JJ Reic, which is an indication of just how fond he is of JJ. Um, Greg St. Jean is also on that staff and and is working closely with Luca as he did in Dallas. But Rob Pelinka, Jeannie Bus, they’ve done a great job of again connecting with Laura Beth Sager, who’s essentially kind of like Luca Surg, right? And is a is like she runs Luca’s life, making her part of the, you know, the equation here. Also, Bill Duffy, you know, his agent, you know, obviously they had a relationship with him before, but how about Bill Duffy’s summer? He he and now look it helps to have uh players to uh to to represent, you know, but he represents Jaylen Williams, Chad Homegrren, and Luca Donuch. That’s uh we’re closing in on on a billion there. It’s not DeAndre Aiden, too, which he made sure he got, you know, he he he’s full, you know, he he gave back to the Blazers and got that back. Bill’s had a very good Lakers. But so that whole picture with Luca that I just laid out with flexibility, with optionality as he’s entering his prime, I like the Lakers chances of building a championship contender around him. He does too, obviously. That’s why he signed it, right? Like that’s and and look for all Yeah, he’s given them he’s freely given them he’s freely given them the the patience and the pathway to build out the best team they can. And by the way, from his perspective, you’re a Laker, you’re going to be the face of the franchise. He kind of already is. That’s a that’s a delicate topic because now he is for sure. I mean, look, that’s what’s caused all the drama this summer that you’re the face, right? LeBron is not You’re the face of one of the iconic uh sports teams on the planet. Yes. and they have incoming ownership that I don’t know how it’ll work out, but the incoming ownership promises to boost the team’s fortunes and further invest in the team. In all honesty, when you look at it, it’s kind of an easy decision. But that said, because it was such a shock to the system and because there’s other stuff going on out in the world, you just weren’t 100% sure. But it seems like Luca made the decision the you know quite some time ago and you can certainly understand why he made it. But I just didn’t think we should have assumed it. I if Luca didn’t walk out of that dinner um at Craigslist of Hollywood knowing he was committed to the Lakers. I I I think it was pretty soon thereafter because his whole summer has been plotted out to lead up to this moment. And again, the fact that he took such a lead in terms of the recruiting, which is something that that that’s not his natural sense, that’s not something, you know, it’s something he basically pushed away from early in his career. This is the first time he’s really embraced it. That that was a pretty strong sign of just how committed he was to the Lakers. But, you know, having said all that, this contract, it positions him to be able to make the most money. It certainly makes the most financial sense if things go haywire. It also he’s going to have leverage, but the Lakers have so many advantages in terms of roster building, especially now that they have the deep pockets that they haven’t had before. Um, I would I if I would be surprised if Luca Dantress does not win a championship or championships wearing the Lakers uniform. M well look at the if you look at the arc of history in the NBA over the first 60 some odd years the Lakers were in existence from 1949 to 2013 I guess 64 years they missed the playoffs four times and or five times I should say in the last 12 years they missed the playoffs seven times so that’s the gene bus ownership so if Mark Walter comes in and does what he did with the Dodgers which again this isn’t atypical new owner situation this is a guy who has proven what he can do with the Dodgers, similar situation, buys an iconic team, turns it into a juggernaut. If you’re Luca and you’re betting on the future with Mark Walter, that’s understandable. But again, if you look at the Lakers over the last 12 years, despite the comments of some people while we were gone, uh I do not denigrate the title in the bubble, and it counts just as much as any that way. That’s a whole another deal. Go. Yes, we’ll just leave that comment right where it is. Uh that being said, again, these guys have had LeBron James and Anthony Davis the last few years and have generally been a playin team.

Brian Windhorst is joined by Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective to react to Luka Doncic signing a contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers.

0:00 Luka signs extension with Lakers
3:55 Breakdown of Luka’s extension
6:51 Luka’s body transformation
12:10 Can the Lakers build around Luka?
14:15 Why didn’t LeBron attend Luka’s signing event?
17:00 What does the future of the Lakers’ franchise look like?

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