Lakers Get Strong Luka Doncic Prediction Amid Ownership Shakeup

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 11: Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first quarter in Game Four of the Second Round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena on May 11, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images) Getty

The names atop the Lakers’ ownership structure keep changing. ESPN’s forecasters expect the name at the center of their basketball plans to remain the same.

Asked whether the 2026-27 season would be Luka Doncic’s last in Los Angeles, ESPN’s summer forecast panel gave “No” 20 points and “Yes” four. The result favored continuity despite another ownership transition, with Josh Kushner and Bob Iger preparing to take over from Mark Walter.

For ESPN Lakers insider Dave McMenamin, neither side appears to have a compelling reason to end the partnership.

His assessment rests on two things: the organization’s commitment to building around Doncic and the investment the 27-year-old has made in his teammates.

It is a prediction, not an assurance that a trade cannot happen. But it pushes against the idea that uncertainty in the owner’s suite necessarily means uncertainty about the franchise player.

ESPN Expects Lakers to Keep Building Around Luka Doncic

In ESPN’s summer forecast, McMenamin pointed to the support Doncic has received since Rob Pelinka acquired him from the Dallas Mavericks.

“Even with the Lakers’ ownership about to change hands from Mark Walter to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, it’s hard to imagine the organization suddenly changing directions and not continuing to build with Doncic as the center of its universe,” McMenamin wrote.

Doncic also has contractual security. Beyond the coming season, his deal runs for two additional years, including a $57.8 million player option for 2028-29.

That option gives him a future decision point. It does not make next summer an automatic departure date.

McMenamin offered another reason to doubt that Doncic would seek an exit: his decision to pay a six-figure bill for a teammates’ minicamp and retreat in Slovenia.

The gathering combined basketball work with time together away from the demands of an NBA season. For a player still establishing himself as the Lakers’ leader, it was a tangible commitment to the group.

McMenamin described the prospect of Doncic making that investment and then deciding he was finished with Los Angeles next summer as “similarly unfathomable.”

Another Lakers Sale Adds Change Around Doncic

The ownership turnover nonetheless gives the forecast an unusual backdrop.

If the proposed sale closes, Doncic will have played under five controlling ownership groups during his NBA career: Mark Cuban’s Mavericks, the Adelson-Dumont families in Dallas, the Buss family’s Lakers, Walter’s group and the Kushner-Iger partnership.

That sequence spans more than two seasons. The NBA approved Cuban’s sale of Dallas’ controlling interest in December 2023, before Doncic’s move to Los Angeles.

For the Lakers, the immediate question is whether new ownership will maintain the basketball direction already established around him. McMenamin expects it will.

For Doncic, the challenge is turning his offseason commitment into a durable partnership on the court. A retreat does not guarantee long-term happiness, just as a contract does not eliminate the possibility of a future trade request.

Still, ESPN’s forecast places the burden of proof on a departure, not a reunion next season.

The Lakers may soon have different owners. The expectation is that they will still be building around Doncic.

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