After he was done venting his frustration with the foul trouble that had kept him out of rhythm on defense and limited some of his aggressiveness on offense, Luka Dončić walked off the court in Riga, Latvia, and into the first moments of anything that actually looks like an offseason.
“Proud,” he posted on a picture of his Slovenian national teammates — a group few around EuroBasket believed could advance to the final eight, where they pushed undefeated Germany to the brink before losing 99-91 on Wednesday.
Now, at least for a second, Dončić can exhale.
Dončić almost immediately began working on changing his body and committing to a strict diet and fitness routine shortly after his first stretch with the Los Angeles Lakers ended with a first-round playoff loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He returned to the U.S. to show off the progress and to sign a three-year extension worth an estimated $165 million with the Lakers.
Now, after a dominant run leading Slovenia at EuroBasket, Dončić can turn his attention to the Lakers. And, after the way Dončić looked for his national team, the Lakers can turn even more attention toward him.
According to team and league sources, the Lakers’ stance on roster improvements heading into this season has shifted because of the start of this new chapter together.
While the Lakers had resisted scenarios in which the team would take on contracts that lasted beyond the 2025-26 season earlier this summer, Dončić’s multi-year commitment has nudged LA’s priorities in more aggressive directions.
One area the team is focused on is upgrading the wing, where it needs more two-way talent. A player like Miami’s Andrew Wiggins, whom the Lakers weren’t interested in earlier this summer, is now a more desirable player, provided the price is right.
Wiggins, who turns 31 in February, is due $28.2 million this year and has a player option for $30.1 million for 2026-27. Marc Stein linked the Lakers and Wiggins in his newsletter earlier this week.
The Lakers still value their lone tradeable first-round pick, either in 2031 or 2032, as a piece earmarked for a much bigger move in the future. However, they have a mixture of expiring contracts and a former first-round pick in Dalton Knecht that could be packaged together if another team were looking to shed salary.
It’s unclear whether that kind of package could net Wiggins, who proved he could be a valuable piece on a championship team in 2022 with the Golden State Warriors. It’s also unclear whether the Lakers believe Wiggins would be a significant upgrade over Rui Hachimura or whether the ideal situation would be to have him on the perimeter in addition to Hachimura.
The Lakers may also want to see how the roster looks with new additions Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia, and Marcus Smart before cashing in some of their limited trade assets.
But Dončić’s EuroBasket run, in which he fully got to test his slimmed-down physique against defensive game plans built to stop him, reaffirmed his place in the very top tier of basketball players in the world.
Minus some magic from Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dončić will finish as the tournament’s scoring leader. The “how” is probably more important than the accomplishment itself; Dončić played noticeably faster when attacking double teams and getting into the paint, where he used his size as a massive advantage.
That area of his game never really got going in Los Angeles. Dončić shot a career-worst 49.3 percent on 2-point attempts as he worked back from injury while trying to shake off the shock from the trade that sent him to the Lakers.
In Europe this summer, Dončić averaged 34.7 points while hitting more than 62 percent of his 2-point shots (and while shooting just 32.1 percent from 3). The quickness getting into the paint also flashed on the defensive end, where he had at least two steals in each of Slovenia’s first six games of the tournament before being held without one against the Germans.
The combination of Dončić’s contract, his improved physical condition and the EuroBasket run delivered a not-too-subtle reminder that planning for the future might get in the way of an opportunity in front of the Lakers now.
It’s still not a given that the Lakers will abandon the caution they’ve used as they built this version of the roster around short-term and expiring deals. However, what they have seen from Dončić over the last month has the organization reassessing things.
(Photo: Jurij Kodrun / Getty Images)
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