Lakers Rumors: Luka Doncic 'Ecstatic' To Join Franchise & All Sign Point To Long-Term Partnership
Today at 03:17 PM
The trade that saw superstar guard Luka Doncic join the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis will go down as the most shocking deal in NBA history. Absolutely nobody saw this deal coming and the Lakers have now acquired a player in his prime who has the chance to be the face of the franchise for years to come.
There were a lot of questions in the immediate aftermath about how everything went down and who was all involved. One thing that seems for certain is that none of the players had any idea that this move was in the works, but now that everything is settled, it sounds like Doncic himself is very happy.
According to Joe Vardon, Sam Amick and Fred Katz of The Athletic, Doncic is excited about joining the Lakers and plans on being with the franchise for a very long time:
Now that the trade is official, answers are emerging. Dončić is ecstatic about joining the Lakers, and all early signs point to a long-term future with the team, a league source said.
Doncic is a superstar in every sense of the word and the Lakers are a franchise that knows how to handle superstars and treat them right. Doncic is the latest in a long line of all-time greats from Elgin Baylor and Jerry West to Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and now Doncic will be next in line to inherit the throne.
That future will likely be locked down this summer as Doncic is eligible for a five-year max extension and the Lakers will have no hesitations about giving him that deal. Unfortunately for Doncic, though not so much for the Lakers, the trade makes him ineligible for the $345 million supermax contract he would have signed in Dallas so the Lakers will save some money in the short term.
But Doncic will have plenty of opportunities to make that money back and once he hits 10 years in the NBA he will be eligible for an even bigger max contract. Assuming he and the Lakers remain locked in together on the same page and hopefully winning a championship or two, there is no doubt the two sides will want to keep this partnership going no matter the cost.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka talked Mavericks into accepting lighter package for Luka Doncic?
Another big surprise about the Luka Doncic trade was the package itself that the Lakers gave up in order to acquire him. In a world where multiple first-round draft picks and pick swaps are required in order to make superstar deals happen, the Lakers gave up just one pick, and a solid prospect in Max Christie, along with Anthony Davis.
This is reportedly due to Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka talking down the Mavericks asking price as the initial deal reportedly involved more draft capital and promising rookie Dalton Knecht. However, Pelinka was apparently able to use the Mavericks’ concerns about Doncic, and the secrecy of the deal not allowing the Lakers to know whether he wanted to remain long-term with the franchise, to limit what the team gave out in the deal.
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