Luka Doncic did not choose the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency; he was traded there last season. But with his new contract extension, he has made it clear he is planning to stay.
What looks like a standard three-year deal is actually the beginning of what could turn into an eight-year run in Los Angeles. This is a kind of long-term commitment that is almost unheard of.
Luka Doncic’s extension sets the stage for a near decade in Los Angeles
Doncic is now under contract through the 2028–29 season. But if things go as expected, he will opt out in the summer of 2028 to sign a new five-year supermax, one that is going to be potentially worth over $400 million, which would keep him in Los Angeles through 2033.
There is another layer to this contract as well. He could soon have a full no-trade clause, something only LeBron James and Damian Lillard currently possess in the NBA.
“Doncic will be eligible to have a full no-trade clause added to his next deal as long as he goes to unrestricted free agency and signs an all-new contract,” Marc Stein reported in The Stein Line.
The thing with those kinds of clauses is they are not easy to get by any means.
Stein noted, “NBA players can only become eligible for a full no-trade clause with eight years of service time and four with the same team.”
So how will Doncic be eligible? By 2028, Doncic will have played just 3 and a half seasons in Los Angeles, but due to the way the rule is applied, he will still be able to qualify.
Stein cleared it up, saying, “League sources tell The Stein Line that he'll indeed be deemed a four-year Laker at that point because he will have finished four consecutive seasons in purple and gold at that stage.”
Before the stunning trade, Doncic was eligible for a five-year, $345 million extension with the Dallas Mavericks. But the Mavs chose to move on, sending him to Los Angeles in a blockbuster deal that reshaped both franchises.
Now, the Lakers have their next era locked in. Doncic is not just a rental or a bridge to whatever comes after LeBron. He is clearly their present and their future.