We are just about a month away from the Los Angeles Lakers beginning their season, and the Luka Doncic era is official here. Since Doncic signed his 3-year, $165 million contract extension, the question has been how Rob Pelinka and the Lakers brass will build around him.
There have been plenty of NBA Trade Rumors over the past few months, and perhaps the loudest has been one involving a trade with the Miami Heat that would bring Andrew Wiggins to LA.
The other question, besides the actual player and how they fit in the system, comes down to contracts.
LeBron James is in the final year of his contract and may ultimately retire at the end of the season. He obviously wants the Lakers to go all in this season in order to win a championship. But can the team do that and still protect themselves for the future?
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Well, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, sources told him that the Lakers are “open to trading for a player on a contract that extends beyond 2026.”
A Plan For The Lakers To Contend Now, And In The Future
The Lakers have never been shy about making moves that they felt were in the best interest of the team to win. But at times, those moves felt more like band-aids instead of building a championship team year in and year out.
That changed when they pulled off the blockbuster of the century that sent Anthony Davis+ to the Mavericks in exchange for Doncic. He became the face of the franchise, and now they must do whatever is necessary to ensure the Los Angeles Lakers are a championship-caliber roster every single season.
“In terms of team building, we’ve talked about the importance of having optionality, and when I use that word, it’s not to say in the future,” Pelinka said. “I think optionality is also in the now. Having both Luka as arguably the best player on the planet and LeBron James, who is still in the mix of being one of the great players in our game, even at his age, continues to allow us to think carefully about the value of that optionality.”
According to McMenamin, Rob Pelinka has made an emphasis on being smart, but doing whatever it takes to bring the next championship trophy to LA.
“If there are smart ways to pour into our championship aspirations for next year, we will execute on those,” Pelinka said. “And we see having those two players on our team next year [as] an important moment, and we’ll continue to try to do all we can to deliver this franchise its 18th championship.”
The Lakers already added Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia, and Marcus Smart this offseason. Who will be the next player to put on the Purple and Gold?
Comment your thoughts below, Laker Nation!