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Why Luka Doncic-Lakers contract talks could drag out even longer
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- Why Luka Doncic-Lakers contract talks could drag out even longer
The post Why Luka Doncic-Lakers contract talks could drag out even longer appeared first on ClutchPoints .
The Los Angeles Lakers are almost certainly very eager to sign Luka Doncic long-term after acquiring him in February, but it might be a while until they can do that.
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Doncic, 26, was traded by the Dallas Mavericks in a shocking deal to the Lakers ahead of this year's deadline, sending shockwaves throughout the NBA, as well as complicating Doncic's long-term contract extension. Before the trade, it was widely expected that Doncic would be offered and sign a five-year, $345 million supermax deal with the Mavericks when he became eligible in August. However, as a result of the trade, Doncic is no longer able to sign such a deal; his supermax is now set at four years and nearly $230 million with the Lakers, still one of the largest in the league but a far cry from the original.
It remains to be seen what Doncic will do in terms of an extension — he could decide to decline to sign one at all and become an unrestricted free agent next offseason — but it will likely be at least another month before we really learn anything concrete. The reason for that mirrors, in some ways, why it may take the Lakers longer to sign Doncic than some may have expected this summer.
"The whole reason [Doncic's extension eligibility date is] August 2nd and not like July 2nd is because it has to be timed to when the contract was signed," ESPN NBA insider Tim McMahon said on the 'Hoop Collective' podcast. "The reason the contract was signed August 2nd is because his deal with the Mavericks was, 'Hey, I'm going to go play for Slovenia. This is the year they qualify for the Olympics and than made the run in the Olympics and we'll take care of this after the Olympics.' So I wouldn't be surprised at all if he told the Lakers, 'Hey, EuroBasket is coming and I'm going to play in EuroBasket for my national team, and we'll take care of this after that.'"
EuroBasket, which pits 24 of the best national teams in Europe against each other, runs from Aug. 27 to Sept. 14 in Cyprus, Finland, Latvia, and Poland. Doncic and Slovenia are in Group D of the tournament, along with France, Poland, Israel, Iceland, and Belgium.
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In 2022, the most recent EuroBasket, Slovenia finished atop its group and won its first-round game before suffering a shocking loss to Poland in the quarterfinals. Slovenia's lone basketball gold medal came at EuroBasket 2017, when Doncic was 18 years old.
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