The Los Angeles Lakers have a massive offseason ahead. New majority owner Mark Walter is in his first summer on the job, and has abundant cap space and roster spots to build a team around superstar Luka Doncic. This will be L.A.’s first real opportunity to build a team around Doncic’s skillset.
Doncic is the level of superstar that effectively requires that he have some say over the types of players the Lakers target. It does appear that he and Walter have spoken often about what the two sides are looking to do together to build a championship roster, via Dan Woike and Sam Amick of The Athletic:
Doncic has had regular contact with new Lakers owner Mark Walter and has been impressed with the level of communication, league sources said.
The Lakers having their owner and star player on the same page is great news ahead of such a pivotal summer. It’s the type of lockstep that nearly every Lakers superstar has had with the owner at some point during their tenure. LeBron James and Jeanie Buss were in complete sync when the team traded for Anthony Davis in 2019 and proceeded to win the 2020 NBA championship.
Doncic was also in lockstep with his previous team — the Dallas Mavericks — when they built out the roster that made the NBA Finals in 2024. In short, franchises do their best work when the stars of the decision-makers are working together to achieve the same goal of winning it all.
JJ Redick admits need for Lakers to improve roster
Another part of the equation is making sure that Lakers head coach JJ Redick is on board with any and all roster decisions. He admitted after the team’s second round exit that their roster is in need of serious improvements if they want to contend with the likes of the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.
“That’s what we gotta figure out this offseason,” Redick said after the Lakers’ Game 4 loss. “I will say for the things that we set out to do, build our championship habits and build our championship communication and championship shape, I thought we were darn close to doing that.
“And it doesn’t mean you’re gonna win a championship, but I take a lot of, I think I would say I take a lot of pride in our players, and what they all individually went through, what we collectively went through and what we turned out to be. You don’t know on day one of training camp what you’re gonna turn out to be, and I’m just proud of who we are.”
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