The Los Angeles Lakers were just sold for $12.5 billion. Mark Walters, who bought the controlling stake in the team just last year, sold the team to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger. The Lakers were always going to sell for a ton of money, but the Luka Doncic trade definitely helped the process. Without that deal, who knows what could have happened.
The Lakers have one of the most iconic brands in the world – sports or otherwise. That alone would have been enough to make them the most valuable franchise in the NBA, perhaps even the world. But if the Lakers didn’t trade for Doncic, perhaps the new owners would have tried to offer less.
Having a guy like Doncic ready to lead the franchise into the future definitely makes the team a more appetizing product to purchase. Otherwise, who knows where the direction of the team could have gone.
Luka Doncic trade could have helped move along Lakers sale
Before the Lakers traded for Doncic, their future looked pretty rough. LeBron James was only getting older, and Anthony Davis was too injury-prone to lead them into the future.
Even Davis is already 33 years old. And with his injury history, there’s no telling where his career would have gone (or is going). He’s just too hurt and too inconsistent to be a face of a franchise anymore.
The Lakers looked like they were heading into a pretty brutal era. Even with Austin Reaves there, they probably would have been set up to (at best) be a Play-In team, especially with how much talent is in the Western Conference.
Buying a team that looks ready to enter an era in which they consistently struggle to make the postseason certainly doesn’t sound ideal. The trade for Doncic changed that future completely.
Again, the Lakers would have been bought anyway. And whoever ended up purchasing the team would have been more than willing to shell out a ton of money to get the deal done.
At the end of the day, you’re buying the Lakers. You’re not buying the team; you’re buying the brand. But having a good team backing that brand is important.
Trading for Doncic ensured that the Lakers will have a good team backing the brand for a long, long time. And for the people willing to shell out billions to buy a team, that probably helps ease your mind.
Without the Doncic trade, perhaps new buyers could have tried to shave a little bit off their offers.
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