In the summer of 2025, fresh off his first few months as a Laker, Luka Doncic agreed to terms on a three-year, $165 million extension that secured his short-term future in Los Angeles. But a year later, with the Purple and Gold making an early exit from the playoffs and the roster’s championship window looking narrower than expected, that same extension is now the source of genuine anxiety inside the organization. It is one of those generational what-ifs.

Dan Woike of The Athletic was asked the following in a recent Q&A, ahead of the draft and free agency:

“Do the Lakers care about Luka’s upcoming free agency offseason?” a fan asked. “Do they just think every star will resign with them just because they’re the ‘Lakers,’ while they do marginal moves every offseason?”

“If they don’t, they need to be,” Woike wrote in response.

The Slovenian’s deal includes a $57.7 million player option for 2028-29. He could become a free agent in just two years. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Doncic’s biggest priority in the summer of ’28 will be securing a supermax contract worth $417 million, which is roughly $83 million a year, a number that puts every other team in the league on notice as a realistic suitor regardless of what Los Angeles does between now and then.

“Doncic is in the prime of his career and was traded away from a roster built to his specifications to compete for NBA titles,” Woike wrote. “If the Lakers can’t provide that, maybe he looks elsewhere. (If anybody should understand that this is business, it’s Doncic).”

The trade that brought Doncic to LA was one of the most shocking in sports history, taking him away from a Dallas team he’d led to the 2024 NBA Finals. And Doncic already knows what it feels like to be moved when an organization’s plan and his own ambitions no longer align.

“That’s a lot of money to walk away from [$417 million], but I think there’s an actual threat that he could have a wandering eye if the Lakers can’t deliver on the plans they presented last summer,” Woike continued.

Doncic has shown solid progress in the time he has spent in LA, but the Lakers are still below the Thunder and Spurs, who dominated with deeper, more complete rosters while the Lakers leaned heavily on aging stars to carry the load. That dependence turned into desperation (let’s be honest) when the Slovenian was ruled out right before the playoffs. Austin Reaves, who was also injured, returned eventually, but LA still cannot rely on LeBron James to spark a deep run.

General Manager Rob Pelinka gave a hearty speech to the LA faithful at the closing interviews in May. He’d promised a build centered on Doncic. But they have to decide whether they want many of their players to return to the franchise before going on a leaguewide hunt. There’s been a new development on that front.

The Lakers are reportedly prioritizing the returns of Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes, which we’d term modest, sensible moves, but not the kind of swing that obviously closes the gap to the conference’s best teams… Also, the loftier the contracts they promise to other players, the less LeBron James will be offered, who, unsurprisingly, appears to have no interest in accepting a veteran minimum offer that’s barely reaching $4 million.

Luka Doncic’s Self-Set Standards Make the Stakes Very, Very Clear

The Slovenian Sensation isn’t shy to admit what he expects from his own season, let alone the franchise that surrounds him.

“I won’t hide it, if you don’t win the title, it’s a bad season,” Doncic said, reflecting on a year disrupted by injuries despite periods where LA was on a streak.

“We’ve been unlucky with injuries, myself included, after we played some great basketball in March,” Doncic continued. “It’s going to be a long time before next season. I hope it’s better for us.”

The Lakers’ roster-building stance has already shifted once because of Doncic’s commitment. Woike previously reported that the team became more willing to take on contracts extending beyond a single season, specifically because of the multi-year extension their centerpiece signed.

The Insider’s closing point was the one that should worry Los Angeles most:

“How the Lakers handle this summer, how their decisions play out, how they’re reacted to by Doncic could have ripples for years inside the organization and around the league. The Lakers don’t have to solve all their roster issues in one transaction period, but they have to start finding the answers.”

According to reporter Jake Fischer, the Lakers “have called” the Oklahoma City Thunder about Lu Dort’s availability. The 2025 champions are going to face a financial roster crunch and “might be open” to letting go of their big man. They also have two first-round picks in the upcoming draft. The numbers on the Dort deal, though, are going to be a roadblock, whether the LA front office insists he plays out the final year of his contract or hands him an extension readily.

So, with two more guaranteed seasons before Doncic can test the market, the Lakers have time. However, they no longer have the luxury of treating that time as unlimited.