A hectic season has finally come to a close for Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic, as he had to deal with injuries and being traded from a place he envisioned as his home in Dallas.
While L.A. had expectations of going on an extended playoff run, there simply was not enough juice to get by a physical Minnesota Timberwolves team in the first round. Although Doncic is a competitor, this early exit allows him to re-group and recalibrate heading into next season.
However, the 26-year-old will not be taking an extended break from basketball this offseason. With EuroBasket kicking off on Aug. 27, Doncic is going to be playing for the Slovenian national team, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
He will spend the summer playing for the Slovenian men’s national basketball team at EuroBasket, sources said. He’ll be accompanied by members of his “body team” — Slovenian national team strength coach Anže Maček and physiotherapist Javier Barrio Calvo — throughout the offseason.
This offseason will carry significant weight for Doncic in terms of proving his worth as a franchise player. His dynamic offensive play did not take long to display itself when arriving in L.A., but the five-time All-NBA guard needs to get in better shape, which was part of the reason why the Mavericks gave up on him.
As mentioned, Doncic dealt with lower leg injuries for a considerable amount of time this season. Hopefully, playing in EuroBasket can round him into shape about a month or two before training camp starts for the Lakers. For now, he should be taking time to decompress and get healthy heading into next season.
A motivated Doncic playing for his native country and a reconfigured roster to better suit his needs sets up for a special season next year as he fully gets acclimated with his new team. The hope is that the traded and criticism that came from Dallas will serve as a bit of a wake-up call for the 26-year-old, and this summer will be very telling if that was the case.
Lakers willing to offer Luka Doncic whatever contract structure he desires
After a short-lived postseason run for the Lakers, there is a sense of urgency to reconfigure the roster to better fit Luka Doncic. First things first, L.A. needs to secure a long-term commitment from their new star as he becomes extension-eligible in August.
The expectation is for general manager Rob Pelinka to offer Doncic an extension, the max being a four-year, $229 million deal. Although there are plenty of avenues the 26-year-old could take from a financial standpoint, L.A. seems willing to offer whatever contract structure he wants.
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