The Los Angeles Lakers have always been an organization that attracts starts, from Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the list goes on and on.
As the James era nears its completion with him set to enter his 22nd NBA season, the Lakers have begun thinking about the future. Given the new parameters of the CBA, the Lakers are putting an added emphasis on drafting and developing players in order to achieve sustainable success.
Despite their messaging though, the Lakers are always chasing the next star. And perhaps their inactivity this offseason shows that as they have the ability to trade two future first-round picks but have been reluctant to do so to this point.
According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, the reason for that may be that the Lakers are waiting for Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic to become available:
“I’ve reported on this podcast and on The Ringer how [the Lakers] have their sights set for Luka. We’ll see if that works out. Dallas just made a Finals, Dallas is looking better than ever with their supporting cast. That may not work out, but the Lakers by not trading their future picks clearly are still thinking long-term at this point. They’re not going all in like you might expect many teams to do with James.”
While this should be taken with a huge grain of salt, it would not be all that surprising to see the Lakers make a run at Doncic considering all of the stars they have chased, both successfully and unsuccessfully, in the past.
The fact of the matter is though that the Lakers don’t currently have anything intriguing to offer Dallas should Doncic want out. With that being the case, he would need to force his way to L.A., which he has yet to show any implication of doing.
Regardless, Doncic’s situation with the Mavericks will be something worth monitoring in the coming years. They are coming off an NBA Finals appearance and are hoping to build off it this season. But if things go south, then him asking out is always a possibility, as so many other superstars have done in recent years.
Jeanie Buss: LeBron James’ contract is a bargain for Lakers
As previously stated, the Lakers are always gonna be an organization that not only chases stars, but then treats them right when they have one.
That is the case with LeBron James as he recently signed a new contract with the Lakers, which owner Jeanie Buss called a bargain despite him being one of the highest-paid players in the league.
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