Commentary: The Lakers appear to be Luka's team now

The Los Angeles Lakers are Luka Doncic's team now, beyond question. This was coming, of course, this transition beyond the LeBron James era. We probably got the first hint of such shortly after the night in early February that Rob Pelinka fleeced Dallas counterpart Nico Harrison in acquiring Doncic. LeBron was not consulted beforehand, and the process was buttoned up so tight that LeBron was taken aback when he actually got the news after the fact that Luka was coming and Anthony Davis, among others, was going. "Even when I got off the phone with (Davis, after hearing of the deal), it still didn't seem real," James noted a couple of days afterward. "And it still pretty much didn't seem real until I saw Luka today, and then I saw the clip of AD at the Dallas shootaround. That's when it finally hit me like, oh, (shoot), this is real." So flash forward to Saturday's news conference at the Lakers' El Segundo facility, to announce the three-year, $165 million extension. LeBron's name didn't come up until two-thirds of the way through — we'll get to that reference — and Luka was asked about the recruiting he'd done to augment the roster. Recruiting his guys and talking up his team and organization and the opportunities within, of course, is generally the ranking superstar's job on an NBA team. Luka talked Marcus Smart, the one-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, into joining the Lakers. He was likely in Pelinka's ear regarding Deandre Ayton, the former No. 1 pick who signed a two-year deal with the Lakers after being bought out by Portland. This is going to be a different Lakers team, obviously, than the one that began camp last September. LeBron still will be around, of course, after exercising his $52.6 million player option, and Pelinka acknowledged Saturday that he still has productive conversations with Paul, chats that Pelinka described as "positive and supportive … very professional." As many passive-aggressive messages as LeBron and his camp have seemed to send out over the years, I do not see a power struggle taking place on the court. The only competition between the superstars right now, in fact, may be which one looks in greater shape when camp starts — and as svelte as Luka looks these days, and as rigorous as his offseason workouts seem to have been, that's definitely a fairer fight than it's ever been. Thank the Mavs for that one, too. The chatter from Dallas about dissatisfaction with Doncic's conditioning couldn't have gone unnoticed, especially when controlling owner Patrick Dumont took sideswipes at his departed player a week after the trade. If Luka needed any motivation beyond being the best version of himself for the team that actually wanted him, he got it. Maybe that helped him spur him on through a grueling offseason regimen, overseen by trainer Anze Macek and physiotherapist Javier Barrio, that began with a full month's work before he touched a basketball in earnest. "The first five days was really hard," Doncic said Saturday. "I just didn't know what to do. But after it was easier … weightlifting, balancing, that stuff. And then after one month, we started playing basketball." No, this wasn't the type of getting-in-shape resolution on which so many of us embark, only to fall away because of the time or energy or sacrifice involved. "If I stop now," Doncic said in the Men's Health magazine article outlining his process, "it was all for nothing." So, Laker fans, you might as well thank Nico again. How good could the 2025-26 Lakers actually be? They'll have the rim protector and pick-and-roll threat in Ayton that they'd lacked, a defensive ace in Smart — another motivated veteran, at that — who will be more than an adequate replacement for Dorian Finney Smith, and a young shooter in Jake LaRavia. "I think having players like that surrounding both Luka and LeBron, guys that can defend multiple positions, is really important," Pelinka said. "We like the upgrades we're able to make to the roster, but by no means are we going to be satisfied. I think every year we're on an infinite cycle to try to improve this team and win championships and we'll stay committed to that work." We may disagree with Pelinka's moves on occasion — all right, I'll admit it, maybe more than occasionally — but he gets it, as we've noted before. With certain organizations in pro sports, not only are championships a reasonable goal, they're the only goal worth having. That's life around the Lakers. If you think about it, not only is that goal one more reason that we should expect the best that LeBron, Luka, Austin Reaves and the rest can give us, it's important to both individual and organizational legacies. James, for example, has been here seven seasons and won one title, and while the critics' carping about the legitimacy of the 2020 championship is ridiculous and laughable, the fact remains that it's still only one. Pelinka noted Saturday that the question of what happens with James beyond this season is still open, and the first priority is to "respect he and his family's decision in terms of how long he's going to play. … But if he had a chance to retire a Laker, that would be great." Meanwhile, Luka is paying close attention to the franchise's legacy as well. He sees the 17 banners, understands the importance of the chase for No. 18, and recognizes the contributions of those legends whose retired numbers hang in the arena rafters and are posted on the walls of the practice gym. "Being a Laker is an honor and I wanted to be here," Doncic said. "Obviously when you look up here, so many great names, what they achieved — you know, I want to be up there too one day." He cares as much as you do and likely more, Lakers fan. How can you not appreciate that?