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The Los Angeles Lakers seem to have their star of the future with Luka Doncic after acquiring him in one of the biggest trades ever, but it's not set in stone yet if he will sign an extension with the team. Doncic was due for a supermax contract with the Mavericks, but uncertainty around whether he would sign the deal was allegedly one of the reasons the Mavericks traded him.
Now, since he's not supermax eligible after being traded, a big question is if Doncic wants to be on the Lakers long term, and that should be one of the team's biggest worries, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.
“The pressure is on the organization between now and August 2 to get Luka [Doncic] to sign that extension,” Windhorst said on First Take. “That's where the pressure is because he doesn't have an incentive to sign in LA. He never said, ‘I want to be a Laker'… this hit him outta the blue.
“He's gotta see how they build this team around him and what they do in June and July for when August 2 comes. The Lakers ain't winning a championship this year, their big moment is whether or not Luka commits to the future.”
The offseason moves the Lakers make will be big as they try to surround Doncic with more talent, but how they perform for the remainder of this season could say a lot as well.
Lakers have a big offseason coming up with Luka Doncic
The Lakers will have a lot of work to do in the offseason, and it starts from the front office to the players. For the coaching staff, JJ Redick will have pressure on him to succeed, and Stephen A. Smith thinks that the success is going to have to come sooner than later.
“The job that JJ Redick has done, very meticulous, very on it… But he's got shoes to fill. We have to remember Darvin Ham took this team his rookie year as a head coach to the Western Conference Finals,” Smith said on First Take.
The Lakers have already shown that they are making Doncic a priority by trying to acquire Mark Williams, but unfortunately, the trade was rescinded. There will still be a lot of deals to be made during the offseason, and the thought of Doncic will probably be behind almost every move. Right now, their goal should be trying to find some chemistry with the team they have now and build on it.
