The Lakers finally gave Luka Doncic the kind of frontcourt partner they’ve been chasing, but that didn’t stop one national voice from looking way down the road and seeing an exit.
Los Angeles pulled off a blockbuster sign-and-trade on Wednesday to land Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz. The deal sends two unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps to Utah, and Kessler will sign a four-year, $130 million contract with the Lakers.
On paper, it’s the sort of move that should make Doncic happy. The Lakers went out and got his dream center, even if it meant paying Kessler a little more than what he’s worth to make the deal happen. But CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn doesn’t think the long-term picture looks nearly as clean.
Quinn believes the Lakers are still built to run into the same wall in the Western Conference, and he said that could eventually push Doncic toward a return to Dallas in 2028.
“I think the Lakers went all in on a roster that’s destined to lose to the (Oklahoma City) Thunder and/or (San Antonio) Spurs,” Quinn wrote on X/Twitter. “They just don’t have the capacity to get the wings they’ll need now.”
“Luka’s best chance at a title, imo, is returning to Dallas in 2028 and rolling with Cooper Flagg. Pretty easily.”
The logic is simple enough: Doncic wants a real shot at the Larry O’Brien trophy, and if this Lakers core - Kessler, Collin Sexton, Quentin Grimes, and Sandro Mamukelashvili included - falls short in 2026-27 and 2027-28, he could choose to opt out of his $57 million player option and hit free agency.
A Mavericks reunion would still be hard to picture, though, considering how his first run in Dallas ended. The Mavericks traded Doncic to the Lakers in 2025 for Anthony Davis without warning, a move that made it clear Dallas didn’t value the six-time All-Star the way it should have.
That decision looks even harsher now that Davis is no longer in Dallas. He was dealt to the Washington Wizards in a 2025-26 midseason trade, leaving the Mavericks’ choice to swap Doncic for the 33-year-old injury-prone center looking even more jarring.
Still, the league has a way of producing surprises. If Doncic looks up in two years and believes the Flagg-led Mavericks are the best path to a title, a reunion can’t be completely dismissed.
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Utah now plans to pair Hayes with Jusuf Nurkic, which makes the Jazz a far less obvious destination in any Gafford pursuit. For Dallas, that means the front office has to keep looking for another team willing to take on a center with value, while also sorting through its own roster construction after adding Morez Johnson Jr. in the draft and trading for Santi Aldama. [Read more 🡒]