Today, the Lakers officially announced that the team officially reached an early contract renewal with Ludoncic. According to previous reports, Doncic and the Lakers reached a three-year, $165 million early contract renewal, including player options for the 2028-2029 season. Later, the Los Angeles Times published an article talking about James' current situation, and the following is some of the content. At the end of the press conference, seven Lakers players and head coach Redick came out of the backstage and took a photo with Doncic holding the jersey. Several of the players, such as center Ayton and defender Smart, were recruited by Doncic, who has now officially become the focus of the Lakers, which seems inevitable from the moment Pelinka signed him. However, this also raises the question: What does this mean for James?
Although James missed Saturday's press conference, this should not be over-interpreted, as Reeves was not present either. However, James has only one year left in his contract, and Doncic has at least three years left. How will James deal with situations that are no longer the team’s focus? James is a player who is used to exerting influence on the team he plays for, even enough to get the 17-time NBA champion Lakers to pick his son.
But the current situation has made him uneasy, in large part because James has not expressed his thoughts clearly. When James exercised his player option for the upcoming season, his agent said there was some disagreement between the two because James wanted to fight for the championship and the Lakers were "building for the future" and they wanted to "evaluate what is the best option at this stage."
Doncic accepted the invitation from the Lakers to become their next No. 1 star. This is an important progress for them. But in order to better show their next show, they must first end the last show, whether it is to get James to accept the supporting role or decide to bring his talents elsewhere.
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