I never once thought about the possibility that Luka Doncic could be playing his last season with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2026-27. And then I read that multiple ESPN NBA insiders predicted that exact outcome, and it got me thinking ... what would have to go wrong this season for Luka to end up with another franchise by this time next year? Also, where would he land?
Full disclosure: I totally don't think this is going to happen. But let's have some fun while we're here. I'm going to touch on three possible landing spots for Luka in a world in which he's traded following the season. I'll also talk about what on Earth could possibly happen to the Lakers to result in such dire circumstances.
Before I get into the good stuff, let's remind ourselves that Luka can't walk after this coming campaign, seeing as he's under contract through 2027-28 with the Lakers. He also has a player option for 2028-29. The point here is that Doncic isn't leaving the Lakers following 2026-27 unless it's via trade.
Why would the Lakers ever trade Luka Doncic?
The more urgent question is, why would the Lakers trade Luka less than a year from now? The franchise just spent the summer specifically building the team around Doncic, making their departure from the LeBron James era feel totally okay (well, mostly okay).
Trading Luka so soon after the fact would make no sense at all and represent a massive organizational failure.
That said, in the spirit of devil's advocate, here are a few scenarios that could theoretically lead to Luka requesting a trade, or (gasp!) the Lakers trading Luka of their own accord.
Scenarios that -- when combined -- could lead to a Luka Doncic trade following the season
The Walker Kessler signing goes terribly wrong
If Kessler either gets hurt or doesn't deliver the way he's expected to, the Lakers will have made a big mistake that puts a permanent stain on their new era. Luka might get disheartened by this development, especially if the Lakers fail to flip Kessler somewhere else and acquire a different center to replace him ... which would be extremely difficult to do with no leverage.
The Lakers miss the Play-In
Los Angeles having a losing season might convince Luka that things aren't headed in the right direction with this franchise, and he has a better chance of winning a title somewhere else. He might think that he's still only a couple of years into his career as a Laker, so it's better to rip the Band-Aid off now rather than drag this era out even further.
The Lakers' defense fails miserably
The worst possible outcome of a Doncic-Austin Reaves backcourt is that it leaves the Lakers way too exposed defensively to even be a viable playoff squad. Such a brutal reality would surely get Doncic -- and the Lakers -- wondering if the Doncic-Reaves duo was ever the right idea in the first place.
Lakers ownership doesn't commit to Luka
There's new ownership in Los Angeles, in case you've been sleeping under a rock. If the Lakers go through a terrible season, there's no telling why Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner wouldn't get a wandering eye and think to build their new team around a different superstar ... perhaps someone younger with more two-way potential ... like Anthony Edwards.
3 possible landing spots for Luka Doncic if he leaves the Lakers after 2026-27
Dallas Mavericks
No one in Dallas not named Nico Harrison -- Luka included -- ever wanted to see Doncic leave! New front office leader Masai Ujiri would become a folk hero in the city if he brought Luka back. A Doncic-Cooper Flagg duo would be awesome. The Lakers era would end up looking like a bad dream, and Doncic would play out the rest of his career in Dallas happily. The NBA would love this.
Golden State Warriors
We hear about it constantly: The Warriors have no post-Stephen Curry succession plan in place. Well, this would be it. Golden State has built an incredible product and fanbase during the Curry era. Letting that all fizzle out once Steph hangs 'em up would be a shame. But injecting interest back into this city with a Luka trade? That would be ideal. The problem is, what exactly would the Warriors have to trade for Doncic? They'd probably have to acquire some promising assets in other trades before making this idea feasible.
Denver Nuggets
Oh baby. A Doncic-Nikola Jokic duo is kind of exactly what the basketball gods want to see, isn't it? This would turn the Nuggets right back into frontrunners in the West, rejuvenating Jokic's championship prospects at a time when it's badly needed. We already know that Doncic and Jokic are good friends. The chemistry would be electric. This would be the pinnacle of Europe's powerful influence on the NBA ... another narrative that Adam Silver would salivate at.
Add us as a preferred source on Google