Los Angeles Lakers star guard Luka Doncic recently signed a massive contract extension with the team, agreeing to a three-year, $165 million deal.
The move keeps Doncic in Los Angeles for multiple years to come, and there’s a chance that he could spend the rest of his career in L.A. after the Lakers acquired him in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks prior to the trade deadline in the 2024-25 season.
While Doncic’s extension means that he won’t be a player for teams to target in free agency next offseason (Doncic originally had a player option for the 2026-27 season), it appears that hasn’t impacted the future plans for the Miami Heat.
“Luka in 2026 was never a plan or the plan,” Five Reasons Sports’ Greg Sylvander wrote via Discord.
The Heat made an upgrade to their roster this offseason, acquiring guard Norman Powell in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. An elite 3-point shooter, Powell should help improve Miami’s offense in the 2025-26 season.
In the 2024-25 season, Powell averaged a career-high 21.8 points per game while shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 41.8 percent from 3-point range.
He also won a title earlier in his career with the Toronto Raptors, so he’ll bring some serious playoff experience to Miami. In addition, Powell has been in the mix for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award in recent seasons, finishing fourth in the voting in the 2023-24 season and 2022-23 campaign.
Even though Doncic would have been a franchise-altering talent to bring to Miami, it appears that the Heat have a different plan in mind to get back into contention in the Eastern Conference.
Miami traded away Jimmy Butler during the 2024-25 season, putting the team in an interesting position going forward. While Miami has proven pieces in Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, it also has a lot of young talent that it needs to develop if it wants to be one of the best teams in the East.
As for Doncic, he’s looking to get back to the NBA Finals for the second time in his career when the 2025-26 season kicks off later this year. Doncic made the Finals with the Mavericks in the 2023-24 season, but the Lakers were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs with the star guard in the 2024-25 season.