Luka Doncic's contract extension sets up Thunder-Lakers rivalry for foreseeable future
Doncic signed a three-year, $165 million contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers. He'll have a 2028-29 player option that he can decline to sign an even bigger five-year, $417 million extension that'll take up 35% of the Lakers' cap space.
When the Lakers shocked the NBA world in their 2025 trade deadline acquisition of Doncic, most had in mind they made the move to keep him around for the long-term future. The 26-year-old is the perfect NBA superstar to carry the baton from LeBron James as Los Angeles' franchise player. Now, that's official six months later.
After they captured the NBA championship last month, the Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the 2025-26 season as the top dog. The rest of the league will look up to hope and usurp the Larry O'Brien trophy from their possession next year. Doncic's extension now includes the Lakers in that group for the foreseeable future.
Expect the Thunder to keep their championship window smashed open for a while. After their parade, they signed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren to contract extensions that'll keep them in OKC through at least the rest of the 2020s.
With that business settled, you might as well pencil in the Lakers as a threat. Doncic has always had the Thunder's number. He eliminated them in their Round 2 playoff series last year against the Dallas Mavericks. In two April games near the end of last year's regular season, he showed out and almost led the Lakers to two straight wins against the eventual NBA champion.
Basketball is the one sport where one individual player can completely change the trajectory of an NBA franchise. You've seen it in OKC with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's unconventional rise to superstardom. Now you'll see it with the Lakers and Doncic as he turns what was previously a muddy long-term future into a perennial contender for the rest of the decade.
If recent history can forecast the future, the Thunder and Lakers will clash and create some high-entertainment basketball. Hopefully with some playoff series classics sprinkled in, too. There's no love lost between Doncic and OKC. Even though they were gentlemen-swept in Round 1, Los Angeles was a popular pick to be the West team to eventually upset OKC.
Of course, that never materialized. The Thunder went on to win the NBA championship. They relatively cruised through the West. But there was some merit to that debate. Now, Doncic's new contract opens the chance that the two teams eventually meet in the playoffs and settle the hypothetical score. He is the type of NBA superstar who's a guaranteed 50-win player. Even in a down year, he led the Lakers to the third seed despite being with the franchise for only two months.
Doncic has apparently taken his physique seriously. The Lakers made the right offseason moves this summer to build around their All-Star duo. Los Angeles is now set up to have another year where it's constantly discussed as a threat to the Thunder and their title ambitions. And they'll remain in that conversation for the next few years.
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