The Los Angeles Lakers' playoff run ended in a flash with Wednesday night's Game 5 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Lakers fans have spent the subsequent days soaking in the postseason fallout, including interesting comments LeBron James made about Luka Doncic's future on Friday afternoon.
"That ain't my job," James responded when asked about Doncic's long-term future in L.A. "Luka knows how I feel about him. And ultimately, that trade happened for the future... He's (26) years old, I'm 40, so he can't be basing his career off me. That's just real."
While James expressed he wants Doncic to stick around for the long term, the 40-year-old superstar also made it clear that he "ain't going to be around much longer." Not only does he have a player option to decide this summer, but retirement is also on the future Hall of Famer's plate.
With that in mind, the Lakers' outlook has never been clearer.
Lakers Must Build Team Around Luka Doncic as LeBron James Nears Retirement
After James expressed he won't be around forever, the Lakers must prioritize constructing the roster around Doncic. All signs point to Los Angeles wanting to make the Slovenian superstar a Laker for life, meaning it's integral to build the lineup to his strengths.
One of the main reasons behind the Lakers' early playoff exit is that the roster wasn't constructed with Doncic in mind. The 2024-25 lineup was built around James and Anthony Davis, which is why Los Angeles' frontcourt issues got exposed when the latter was shipped to the Dallas Mavericks.
The Lakers needed another big-man presence before they traded Davis away. Instead of looking for a proper center when the Mark Williams trade was rescinded, general manager Rob Pelinka was fine rolling with Alex Len and Jaxson Hayes as the top rebounders. To the shock of a few, that experiment didn't work out well.
With James now in his 40s and continuing to approach his career on a year-by-year basis, the Lakers need to start thinking about long-term center and wing options who can play alongside Doncic for seasons to come. That means potentially taking risks by trading away the likes of Rui Hachimura or Dalton Knecht if it means bringing in legitimate contributors rather than aging veterans on minimum deals.
In fact, if anyone knows what Doncic needs, it's head coach JJ Redick. The former NBA sharpshooter described how he'd build a team around the multi-talented superstar during an episode of "The Young Man and The Three" podcast in June 2023.
"A prototypical modern five. To me, that's the big you pair with Luka," Redick said. "A guy that is a rim protector, a guy that can play in drop coverage, that can be a lob threat offensively because if you surround those two with a bunch of shooting, the floor is spread... That leaves the rim open. That leaves threes open."
The Lakers' direction has been built on James' wants and needs ever since he arrived in town back in 2018.
Now that it's 2025, Los Angeles has to cater to Doncic's desires if it means keeping him in a Lakers jersey for the next decade-plus. He will be under contract next season with a $45.9 million cap hit before needing to decide on his $48.9 million 2026-27 player option, meaning the clock is ticking for Pelinka & Co.
With how quickly the NBA playoffs are moving, it won't be long before the offseason is here. By then, Lakers fans should have a firm idea of which direction the team is heading.