Retooling the roster around Luka Doncic has long been discussed as the focus of the 2026 offseason. There is just a LeBron James-sized hiccup in those plans. Can the Los Angeles Lakers truly start the Doncic era while James is still on the roster?
Do not get confused, that is not an invitation to discard a player who is still as good as LeBron is. James' reported preference is for another season in Los Angeles, and given the opportunity, the Lakers should reunite with the 41-year-old star for one more year.
There are limitations that come with such a move, though. One way or another, bringing back James will eat away at the Lakers' cap space. More than just the money, LeBron returning to Los Angeles would involve at least one more year of blending the roster between players who work alongside James and the ones that fit with Doncic.
Thankfully for the Lakers, there should be some considerable overlap between the support pieces who work for both. However, adding James back for one more year will still keep the Doncic era from truly being realized until 2027-28.
LeBron James' presence keeps the Lakers from fully building around Luka Doncic
If the Doncic era does not truly start in 2026-27, that does not mean the Lakers cannot win and compete for a championship. However, it does still keep the roster from being fully optimized around Luka.
Calling it what it is: James is not the ideal type of forward for a Doncic-led team. The pair can work, but they are far from perfect together.
Doncic and James shared the floor for 1131 minutes in 2025-26. The result of that? An underwhelming 0.3 net rating as a duo. The simple story there is Luka and LeBron are at their best when operating in similar functionalities within an offense, and even to some degree, on defense.
James does deserve a lot of credit for adapting his game as the season went on to fit better with Doncic. Isolating the month of March, Luka and LeBron played 13 games, spending 320 minutes together. During that time, their net rating shined with an impressive mark of 12.7.
Despite that sample size of success, few would dispute that Doncic would not rather have a versatile defender at the four spot who guards multiple positions with high effectiveness, knocks down triples, and cuts to the basket with regularity. That is the ideal fit, and at 41, is just not LeBron.
James can certainly spend the offseason reviving the 3-point shot that fell off in 2025-26. That would instantly boost the consistent productivity between that pairing.
Great players usually figure it out. Doncic and James are far from dysfunctional, and there should be a ton of upside to both of them being on the Lakers. Fans will even hope that could include a championship.
Unlike that title, what it is guaranteed would be that any offseason plan including both Doncic and James requires careful threading of the needle from Rob Pelinka. The Lakers general manager would need to really get it right with the role players that surround those two, plus Austin Reaves.
Doable? For sure. The true start of the Luka era? Not quite.
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