The Los Angeles Lakers will get a bargain deal in whatever Luka Dončić will end up signing in extension talks this summer.
According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, everyone he asked around the league pointed to Dončić’s value as over the five-year, $345 million supermax contract he would have been eligible to sign had the Dallas Mavericks not deal him away in the most shocking trade in NBA history.
“They feared giving them the supermax, which I didn’t know that until they traded him,” MacMahon said on the “Buha’s Block” podcast on March 28. “Really, it’s like, you think the supermax is a bad deal for this guy? “Let’s be honest like you talk to people around the league, and I’ve asked a lot, I ask analytics people, what’s his value?
“And a lot of them will tell me he’s $100 million value. $100 million per year. Supermax is a little under 70 average.”
According to ESPN’s front office insider Bobby Marks, Dončić is eligible to sign up to a four-year, $229 million extension with the Lakers, but not until Aug. 2.
The Lakers will only pay the 26-year-old global superstar an average of $57.3 million if he signs that deal — $12 million less than he could have gotten from the Mavericks in a supermax contract and $63 million less than the NBA analytics’ estimation of his value.
How Can Luka Maximize His Earning Potential
Marks outlines a path for Dončić to recoup some of the money he lost in this trade.
“The smart play would be for Dončić to sign a three-year extension this summer with a player option in 2028-29. That would allow him to reach 10 years of service and recoup most if not all from the missed opportunity to sign the supermax this offseason. Starting salary in 2028-29 is $72 million,” Marks wrote on X after the trade.
Marks fleshed out the details in an ESPN story on Feb. 19.
“To recoup the money lost when he was traded, Doncic would be better served financially to sign a three-year, $165 million extension — with a player option in 2027-28. Dončić would then be eligible to sign a five-year, $418 million contract in the 2028 offseason,” Marks wrote.
Still, it will be a bargain deal for the Lakers given Dončić’s estimated on-and-off-the-court value.
“There’s like a short list of guys who are that like the perennial MVP candidates are at that sort of a value,” MacMahon said of Dončić’s estimated $100 million-a-year value.
Lakers on Track to Re-Sign Luka Long-Term
But while the Lakers are salivating over the prospect of getting a bargain deal for their new face of the franchise, there is still work to be done to secure his long-term commitment.
MacMahon listed a lot of things that are working in the Lakers’ favor when it comes to sealing Dončić’s approval.
“Yes this man will be loyal if he feels like there’s loyalty towards him,” MacMahon said of Dončić. I think that his trust has to be earned but I think the Lakers have some major advantages in earning that trust.”
MacMahon pointed to Dončić’s relationship with Lakers coach JJ Redick, his former teammate in Dallas, and LeBron James, his idol growing up in Europe. And there’s also his favorite teammate in Dallas, Dorian Finney-Smith, who is one of the Lakers’ priorities to re-sign this offseason as he’s expected to decline his player option to get a long-term deal.
And more importantly, the allure of playing for the glamour team in Hollywood.
“It’s that mutual respect, that established relationships, now they’re getting to know each other as teammates and we get back to the massive advantages the Lakers have from a team-building perspective,” MacMahon added. “It ain’t hard to recruit people to play in Los Angeles for the Lakers with Luka.”
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