Luka Doncic signs three-year, $165 million extension to remain with Lakers

Luka Doncic is where he wants to be — and now he is locked in.

As had been expected, Doncic has signed a max contract extension with the Lakers on Saturday, the first day the team was eligible to make him an offer. This is a three-year max deal — two guaranteed years plus a third-year player option — that can be worth up to $165 million (but more likely is about $160.8 million based on the NBA’s projected salary cap raises).

“Today is a monumental moment for our franchise. Luka Doncic’s future is with the Los Angeles Lakers,” Lakers President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka said in a statement. “Luka is one of the game’s most transcendent players, and his on-court dominance and passion is without compare. From the moment Luka became a Laker, there was an immediate connection and admiration between Luka and our fanbase. You can feel it in your spirit when you attend a Lakers game.”

Despite some takes early on both online and in the media, there was no drama with this extension — the Lakers were always going to offer the max and Doncic always planned to sign it. The Lakers could have offered (and likely did) a four-year, $229 million max extension to Doncic, but the smart move for him was always signing for three years. That’s because after those three seasons, Doncic will be at 10 years in the league, at which point he is eligible for 35% of the salary cap (up from the 30% that he receives in this contract). After these three years, Doncic can sign a five-year max contract with the Lakers likely worth around $400 million, or a four-year deal with another team.

“This is an amazing organization, and I truly believe in what we’re building together,” Doncic said in a statement. “I’m going to keep working as hard as I can to bring another championship to Los Angeles and to make Laker Nation proud. This is just the beginning. I’m excited for what’s ahead and to keep building something special with this team.”

Doncic was traded to the Lakers at the February deadline in a deal that shocked the league, and from that moment the Lakers have started to change their focus to building around him, and tweak their roster to fit his style of play. While that created some drama around LeBron James — who had been the face of the franchise but at age 40 and entering his 23rd season is not the future in Los Angeles — the reality is that with those two stars, the Lakers are a threat in the West. In 28 games after the trade last season, Doncic averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game.

Whether spurred by the sting of the trade or just maturity, Doncic has focused on his physical conditioning this offseason and appears to be in the best shape of his career. Lakers fans will get to see how he looks and plays when Doncic represents his native Slovenia in the upcoming EuroBasket championships, which start Aug. 27 and run through Sept. 14 (within a couple of weeks of the start of the Lakers training camp).