What Luka Dončić's $165M means, plus grading NBA team offseasons

New York Times

11 hours ago

The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic's daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.
I'm writing today's edition from my laptop in the middle of the Green Park in London. Imagine if you told people 100 years ago that we could send out The Bounce over the internet to people all over the world. Their first question would be: 'What's The Bounce?' And you could tell them: 'You fool! It's a free NBA newsletter from The Athletic, and you can subscribe so easily.' Technology!
Dončić signs 3-year, $165 million extension
'Is Luka Dončić going to sign the extension with the Lakers?'
It was a question, but it was also mostly a formality. While some doubts can be spun into justifying absurd trade ideas in Dallas, when it came to the question of whether Dončić was going to sign his extension, it never felt like there was a real possibility of him leaving the franchise. The 26-year-old had a player option for next season, but declining that would have made him an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2026.
Advertisement
Instead of waiting for next summer and opting for a longer, possibly more lucrative contract over those next four years, Luka did what's best, both for the Lakers in the interim — and in the long term for his earning potential. He agreed to a three-year extension worth as much as $165 million.
It's probably more like a two-year extension, though. There is a player option for the 2028-29 season at $57.5 million, which sounds like a lot. Because it is. I would suspect he declines that option. Why? In the summer of 2028, he'll be 10 years into his career, which makes him eligible for a five-year contract worth at least projected $400 million.
I'll say it if nobody else will: That is a significant amount of money. He'll be 29 years old at that point, so it's not like they're giving that money to an older player. He'll likely be in his prime, which is eye-popping to consider about someone who has averaged 30 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists with 47.4/35.3/75.7 shooting splits since his rookie season.
The Lakers are also set up to put players around Dončić. These are the other players they have signed through each season past this one:
Assuming they reach a deal with Reaves when he declines his player option in 2026, the Lakers will have quite a bit of roster flexibility. If Ayton works out for them as their long-lost big man, then he probably opts out of that contract next summer, but gets something a bit more lucrative as he keeps proving himself.
And, of course, we have no idea what this means for LeBron James. Lakers executive Rob Pelinka mentioned it would be 'great' if LeBron retires a Laker, but what does that mean about his free agency next summer? Or anything potentially happening before the February trade deadline? Do the Lakers still want to pay him the max during whatever short time he has left in the NBA? Can you imagine him taking a discount? A lot of questions about the Lakers remain, but the Luka one has been answered.
RFA, revisited
🏀 Does it work? Restricted free agency doesn't seem to work for players anymore. But did it ever?
🃏 Always joking. Gilbert Arenas is under some serious allegations of running an illegal gambling business. ICYMI: Who is Gil, and why is he always joking?
🏀 Dame's back. Damian Lillard is now one of several NBA players to take on a college role. GM at his alma mater, Weber State.
🏀 This is fun. A familiar game has a pretty fun national competition. Welcome to Pop-A-Shot!
🎧 'NBA Daily.' Zena and Es are joined by Amick to discuss trade rumors around the NBA. Watch on YouTube.
Fox agrees to a big extension with the Spurs
When the Spurs came upon some draft lottery luck and found themselves with the No. 2 pick in this year's draft, it was pretty obvious right away that lead guard Dylan Harper out of Rutgers would be the selection. Sure enough, that's whom the Spurs took, and it at least made some people raise an eyebrow about what that meant for De'Aaron Fox and his future in San Antonio.
Advertisement
The franchise has Stephon Castle, the reigning Rookie of the Year. He's a very good playmaker, and while he's definitely more of a wing or an off-guard, he fancies himself a point guard in the NBA. Harper, one of the top prospects in the draft, showed a lot of the reasons why so many people believe in him during his Summer League exploits. He looks like the real deal, and the promise of him and Victor Wembanyama together in the future is a lot of fun.
Fox is an All-NBA point guard the Spurs traded for last season. But fear not about his future in San Antonio. The Spurs agreed to a four-year, $229 million extension that will keep him in San Antonio through the 2029-30 season. It's a lot of the cap for a guy they might have a replacement for already, but Wemby is on his rookie deal for two more years, Castle for three and Harper is just beginning his.
The Spurs have time to pay Fox until they have to make decisions down the road on how to manage the cap under the second apron. Or if we want to get really spicy and raise some eyebrows, maybe in a year or two, the Spurs have a massive contract to use in matching Giannis Antetokounmpo's deal in a trade.
Sun could sell for $325 million, head to Boston
I mean the WNBA's Connecticut Sun, not the giant gas star you want to stare at while knowing it's such a bad idea. Not that thing that gives sustenance to the plant life Chris Paul and his vegan friends enjoy every day. OK, that's enough about the sun.
A group led by Steve Pagliuca, a minority owner for the Celtics, has interest in buying the Connecticut Sun (down at 11th in Power Rankings!). The potential price could be a record-breaking $325 million, with an additional $100 million going toward a practice facility. The reported intention is to move the team to Boston, possibly as early as 2027.
This is a pretty big deal for the WNBA in general. While some might scoff at the purchase price when compared to the $10 billion to took to buy the Lakers, remember the Sacramento Kings were sold for $534 million in 2013 and the Milwaukee Bucks for $550 million in 2014. Also remember the NBA had a decades-long head start at creating value for their franchises.
With expansion franchises going for $250 million, I'm sure this eye-popping Sun number will make players feel even more emboldened to earn what they're owed. The WNBA is possibly heading toward a lockout during labor negotiations, in which players want a much bigger piece of the thriving league's pie.
Grading offseasons is tough, but we did it
We've got a little less than two months left in the offseason before we're past media day and knee-deep in some training camp action and soundbites. And while this summer is not completely over for people named Kuminga, Russell Westbrook or Cam Thomas, the majority of teams have filled their rotations and are looking set for the start of next season. So it's the perfect time to start grading each team's offseason.
Advertisement
That's exactly what my colleagues at The Athletic did this week. Every team has a grade, except for the one team that has earned an incomplete so far. Let's go over four teams I felt were graded too low and four teams I felt were graded too high. Luckily for my colleagues, I'm wrong a lot, so they probably nailed these grades regardless.
Four teams I graded lower:
Four teams I graded higher:
Here are all those grades again.
Streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.