The Lakers have officially moved on from the Buss family era, and that alone makes Luka Doncic’s future a little more interesting for Mavericks fans who can’t help but wonder about the impossible.
On Monday, Los Angeles completed the transition, with the Buss family selling its remaining stake in the franchise to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner. That came one week after the same group bought the majority stake from Mark Walter at a record $12.5 billion valuation. The sale closes out 45 years of Buss family control and also ends Jeanie Buss’ run as team governor.
That matters because Doncic’s career is entering a stretch where the next big contract decision is right around the corner. He is eligible for a supermax extension next offseason in 2027, and during his time in Los Angeles he had spoken warmly about the Buss family, thanking Jeanie for welcoming him and saying he was excited about where the franchise was headed.
That connection is gone now.
Iger and Kushner don’t have any history with Doncic, but the basics of the job are simple: keep the superstar. When the supermax comes up next offseason, likely a five-year deal worth well north of $400 million, the expectation is that the Lakers will offer it without blinking. For a new ownership group, there’s no cleaner first move than locking in a generational player in his prime.
Still, the whole thing gets a lot more intriguing if Doncic does not take that extension right away.
If he were to turn it down and bet on himself, the 2028 offseason would suddenly become one of the biggest storylines in the league. And that is where the fantasy for Dallas fans would start creeping back in.
A return to the Mavericks remains highly unlikely, though, and the main reason is Patrick Dumont. He was at the center of the decision to trade Doncic, the move that tore up the relationship between the star and the franchise. MavsRoundtable.com's Grant Afseth has reported that, per sources, Doncic dislikes Dumont, which could matter a great deal if Dallas ever tried to reopen that door.
There is still one obvious pull for the Mavericks: Luka loves Dallas. Cooper Flagg being there could also be a draw the Lakers simply don’t have.
But as long as Dumont is still running the show, a reunion feels like a long shot. The trade damage is still fresh, and the person tied most directly to it is still in place.
So the line connecting all of this is pretty clear. Doncic has already played under multiple ownership setups in a short span, from Cuban to Dumont in Dallas and from the Buss family to Walter to Iger and Kushner in Los Angeles.
For now, the most likely ending is the simplest one: Doncic signs the supermax in 2027, stays in Los Angeles, and spends the next decade as the face of the Lakers rather than the team that let him go.
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For Dallas, the next step remains tied to how it handles Thompsons contract, since the team is weighing whether to move him or go another route if no trade materializes. If he ends up in the buyout market, Miami would have a path to make a run at him using its midlevel exception, giving Thompson a potential landing spot while the Mavericks sort out what comes next. [Read more 🡒]