Report: Lakers have their sights set on Luka Doncic once LeBron James retires

The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor claims that once Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James decides to retire from the NBA, the franchise will try to acquire Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic.

“I’ve reported on this podcast and on The Ringer how they have their sights set for Luka in the future,” O’Connor said of the storied organization. “We’ll see if that works out. Dallas just made a Finals. Dallas is lookin’ better than ever with their supporting cast. That may not work out. But the Lakers, by not trading their future picks, clearly they’re still thinking long term at this point. They’re not going all in like you might expect many teams to do with LeBron James.”

As O’Connor mentioned, the Mavericks are not far removed from an appearance in the 2024 NBA Finals, and Doncic spearheaded Dallas’ run to the championship series.

Doncic played in all 22 of the Mavericks’ games in the 2024 NBA Playoffs and averaged 28.9 points on 44.6 percent from the field while also chipping in 9.5 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 1.9 steals per contest. He led Dallas in points, assists, rebounds and steals per game during that span.

The Slovenian helped the Mavericks make their first appearance in the NBA Finals since 2011, when the team was led by German big man Dirk Nowitzki. But unlike the 2011 NBA Finals, the final outcome of the 2024 NBA Finals wasn’t one that fans of the team were excited about.

The team lost to the Boston Celtics in a gentleman’s sweep, and stout defenders such as Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White made life difficult for Doncic on the offensive end of the floor. To be clear, Doncic put up plenty of points, as he averaged 29.2 per game in his first NBA Finals. But he also turned the ball over quite a bit (he finished the series with 28 assists compared to 23 turnovers), and his scoring efficiency left a lot to be desired.

If Doncic were to play for the Lakers at some point in his NBA career, he would become one of countless stars to suit up for Los Angeles over the years. Kobe Bryant, James, Magic Johnson and Wilt Chamberlain are only a few of the great players who have donned the purple and gold at one point or another.

It’s worth mentioning that Doncic is under contract with the Mavericks for the foreseeable future, though. He doesn’t have a player option on his current deal until the 2026-27 campaign and is set to make just over $43 million in the upcoming 2024-25 season.