Luka Doncic arrived in Hollywood and the Los Angeles Lakers immediately handed him the keys to the castle. There was no hesitancy. The Lakers instantly asked him what he wanted — or rather who he wanted. The new arrival (at the time) had the answer.
Jovan Buha has stated on several occasions that Doncic had a list of centers he wanted to play with after arriving in Los Angeles. With the Lakers wanting to make a good first impression, they moved fast to nab one of the guys on the list. Mark Williams had entered the chat.
The former Charlotte Hornets center then immediately left the conversation after the well-documented failure of his physical with the Lakers. With some serious buyer's remorse, Rob Pelinka and the front office ran in the other direction. Despite how disastrous that moment was on the whole, it did succeed in sending a clear message to Doncic.
ESPN's Kevin Pelton wrote: "The move represented the first indication that they were prioritizing winning during Doncic's prime rather than building the best team possible in the twilight of [LeBron] James' career."
Mark Williams fiasco proved Lakers instantly became Luka Doncic's team
For all the trouble that deal caused — Dalton Knecht's regression, the Lakers' continued lackluster center rotation, etc. — it did accomplish what Pelinka would have hoped for. Doncic put pen to paper on an extension in Los Angeles when the first possible moment to make that move arrived.
The Lakers have lacked that urgency shown with the Williams trade ever since. The reasoning for that continues to be their Slovenian superstar.
Los Angeles wants to get it right with Doncic. They want a competent and complementary roster around him. They have decided their best shot to do that will be the summer of 2026.
The problem with that is the frustration that comes from essentially punting on two prime years of Doncic's career. It's a stark contrast to the aggressive approach that was attempted just days after Luka was a member of the purple and gold. The disconnect that has always been confusing to many would be with the Lakers superstar being firmly in his win-now window at present.
A generous defense of Pelinka would suggest the Lakers general manager wants to get it as right as possible with a complete makeover. In his mind, one would estimate he believes himself to be trading two really good years of Luka for (give or take) five great ones to follow. Don't hurt the messenger, but that is how the optics look.
While fans can debate whether the approach is right or wrong, it's still abundantly clear that Doncic is the focus. It was the case from day one and it should be for quite some time.