Luka Doncic Faces An Immediate Trust Test In New Lakers Era

Luka Doncic gears up for a pivotal transition with the Lakers, aiming to forge new alliances amidst leadership and roster changes.

The Lakers’ latest ownership shake-up has put Luka Doncic in the middle of another major transition, but the next step is already lined up: a video conference with new co-owners Bob Iger and Josh Kushner next week from Slovenia.

According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, “Doncic was not consulted about the sale, sources told ESPN, but he plans to have a video conference call with Iger and Kushner next week from Slovenia as he prepares to host his teammates for a mini-camp in his home country,”

That meeting comes at a busy moment for Doncic and the Lakers. With LeBron James gone, the roster has been overhauled around him, bringing in Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Kevon Looney, among others. Doncic is also setting up his own mini-camp in Slovenia, his first real chance to start building on-court chemistry with the new group.

The front office situation has changed just as quickly. Doncic, 27, has now played under three governors since arriving in Los Angeles in 2025.

He started under Jeannie Buss, then moved into the Mark Walter era before Walter was forced to sell after being exposed in a potential $20+ billion fraud scheme. Walter’s run was still in a transition period when the team changed hands again, this time to Iger and Kushner for a historic $12.5 billion.

For Doncic, the speed of it all is familiar. He’s still not far removed from the blockbuster trade that brought him over from the Dallas Mavericks, and the fallout from that move has kept things in motion ever since.

Even so, the Lakers did not consult him on the sale, but he is not taking it personally and has already embraced the new ownership. He wants an open line of communication, and by all accounts, he’s staying locked in while the team keeps building around the two-time scoring champion.

What exactly gets discussed in next week’s call is unclear. The roster is already full, so there doesn’t appear to be any immediate personnel business on the table. More likely, the new owners will use the meeting to get to know Doncic better and start laying the groundwork for a stronger relationship.

They understand what he means to the franchise, and his happiness will matter going forward. The 6’8″ guard averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game last season while shooting 47.6% from the field, and he has three years and $159 million left on his contract. The Lakers, now in yet another new era, will be focused on making that deal count.

In Other News...

Lakers Sale Drama Just Pulled The Franchise Into Trump Family Speculation

The early chatter around the Lakers planned $12.5 billion sale has taken on a political edge, with speculation swirling over whether the process has anything to do with President Donald Trump or his administration. The White House stepped in to deny that connection, as the sale itself continues to draw outsized attention because of the size of the deal and the prominent names attached to it, including Josh Kushner and Bob Iger.

Josh Kushners family ties to Trump have helped fuel the noise, even though he has no official role in the administration. Amid the broader talk about federal investigations involving current owner Mark Walter and whether they could be used as leverage, Kushners venture capital firm also pushed back on the claims, leaving the story in a familiar holding pattern: plenty of speculation, but no public proof tying the Lakers sale to the White House. [Read more 🡒]

Cavaliers Could Be Pulled Into A Lakers Trade Shakeup

With the Lakers still over the regular-season roster limit, the front office is again being pushed toward a numbers game that could force some tough choices before opening night. Los Angeles has a crowded group on hand, and the need to get down to 15 players has put a few names into the mix as the team works to reshape the back end of the roster around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

One of the more interesting possibilities has pulled Cleveland into the conversation, with trade talks centered on adding more shooting to a Lakers group that could use it. Dalton Knecht and Jarred Vanderbilt have been among the players in the discussion, and the framework of the talks suggests the Lakers are still trying to balance immediate roster flexibility with a cleaner fit for their top creators. [Read more 🡒]

Lakers Ownership Shift Could Reshape JJ Redicks Future Fast

JJ Redick already has a little more security than most first-year Lakers coaches can count on. After his first season, he received an extension that lines his deal up with Rob Pelinkas, a sign that the organization wanted to keep its coach and front office tethered together as it moved forward. In the normal run of things, that would be enough to put Redick on stable ground heading into the next phase of the job.

The wrinkle is that the Lakers are now entering an ownership transition, with Bob Iger and Josh Kushner among the new faces at the top and no detailed blueprint yet for how they plan to reshape the franchise. Around that shift, one name has started to surface in conversation: recently retired Chris Paul, whose long relationship with Iger has fueled talk that he could eventually be considered for an advisory role. For Redick, that means the future may be tied not just to his own performance, but to how the new decision-makers decide to build around him. [Read more 🡒]