Los Angeles Lakers star forward LeBron James is still active with the team and a terrific player, but it probably isn’t too early for the Lakers to start thinking about life after him. The 40-year-old is only under contract for one more season and could retire from the league or join another team in free agency in the summer of 2026.
Once James departs the Lakers one way or another, who should the Lakers dream of pairing with star guard Luka Doncic? Here are three premier players who would make a lot of sense next to Doncic in Los Angeles.
Anthony Davis
There are some people who might be surprised to see Davis on this list, as he was a member of the Lakers less than one year ago. He was a casualty of Los Angeles’ move to trade for Doncic before the 2025 deadline.
Davis was also plagued by injury once again a season ago, and there’s reason to believe his injury luck won’t get any better as he continues to age. He’s already 32 years old and will turn 33 in March.
But a healthy Davis would be an attractive fit alongside Doncic in part because of his defensive chops. There are few players in the league who are better at defending the rim and making up for their teammates’ mistakes on that side of the ball.
He would also give the Lakers a dominant scorer at the big man spot, and the team doesn’t have a player who fits that bill right now. Newcomer Deandre Ayton has had some decent scoring seasons in the NBA, but he just recently averaged a career-low 14.4 points per game with the Portland Trail Blazers last season.
It’s worth noting that for as much as a Davis reunion would make sense for the Lakers on paper, it’s unclear if the 10-time All-Star would have any interest in rejoining a team that shipped him away in stunning fashion. The soonest he could become a free agent is 2027. Any other move for him would have to come via trade, which seems especially unlikely.
Nikola Jokic
Of the players featured here, Jokic is probably the biggest pipe dream for the Lakers. There’s no reason to believe that Jokic is overly anxious for a change of scenery, as he’s arguably the best player on the planet and helped the Denver Nuggets to a title somewhat recently in 2023.
With that in mind, however, pairing Doncic with Jokic would give the Lakers two generational offensive talents, and it’s difficult to believe any team would be able to keep Los Angeles’ offensive attack in check.
Doncic can drop 30 points and 10 assists in his sleep, but so can Jokic, as he averaged a triple-double last season. It would be unwise to double-team either of the two players because of how talented they are as playmakers, but at the same time, it’s incredibly difficult to keep them from doing damage in one-on-one situations.
Essentially, teams would be left guessing about how to defend the Lakers if they were spearheaded by Doncic and Jokic. If there’s anything that fans want to cling to in the hope that Jokic will one day join Doncic on the Lakers, it’s that the two share a tight bond.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Antetokounmpo seems to be the player here with the best chance of changing teams in the near future. He’s been in trade rumors this offseason after spending the past several seasons playing for middling Milwaukee Bucks teams, and Milwaukee’s future doesn’t look all that bright with the talent deficit it has.
The timing might work out for Antetokounmpo to join the Lakers next offseason. If Antetokounmpo sticks around with the Bucks for one more season and Milwaukee underwhelms again, he could ask out in the summer of 2026 just as James leaves.
Another possible scenario is that Antetokounmpo could decline his player option after the 2026-27 season and become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2027 and sign with the Lakers then.
Antetokounmpo might just be the preeminent two-way player in the NBA today, and his addition would put the Lakers in a prime position to contend for titles in the coming years. But the team would likely have to give up an arm and a leg in any potential trade for him, so pursuing him in free agency down the line would maybe be the smarter move.