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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The Lakers are already being pushed toward their next roster pivot, with the front office reportedly looking at trade paths that could reshape the team around Luka Doncic for the 2026-27 season. One of the ideas floating around is a three-team framework with Cleveland and New Orleans, the kind of deal that would almost certainly cost Los Angeles young talent and draft capital if it ever got real traction.
Dalton Knecht has been mentioned as the likeliest young piece headed out in that scenario, while the Pelicans Trey Murphy would be part of the return as a scoring wing option. The broader appeal for the Lakers is obvious: they want to keep building a deeper, more balanced roster around Doncic, and the willingness to explore bigger moves now suggests they are not treating this as a one-off offseason search but as the start of a longer reset. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Just Lost A Fan Favorite Luka Fit To A Rival
Austin Reaves is now locked in on a four-year extension, giving the Lakers one of their key young guards a long-term financial commitment. But while the front office was settling one backcourt piece, another familiar name from last season was moving on after a year that made him easy to appreciate in Los Angeles.
Marcus Smart had been brought in with Luka Doncics recruitment helping grease the wheels, and he looked like a useful fit right away in his first season with the Lakers. His blend of edge, defense and steady guard play gave the roster a different look, which is why his departure leaves more than just a thin spot on the depth chart, even before the full next-step picture comes into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Keep Adding Pieces Around Luka After Kessler Trade
Fresh off the trade for Walker Kessler, the Lakers kept working the margins of the roster in free agency, bringing in Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton and Sandro Mamukelashvili to round out the rotation around Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Kessler. The trio gives Los Angeles a little more of what it has been hunting for all summer - scoring, defense and shooting - while also helping spread the responsibilities that used to sit in one place on the floor.
Grimes arrives with the profile of a versatile wing who can help on both ends, Sexton adds another scoring guard to the bench mix, and Mamukelashvili gives the Lakers another frontcourt option with shooting touch. Taken together, the moves suggest a front office trying to build out a more complete supporting cast piece by piece, even as the bigger question around how all of these parts fit with the teams new core still hangs over the roster. [Read more 🡒]