Brian Windhorst explains why the Lakers chose Luka Doncic over LeBron James: “ It's not a sustainable way forward”
When Luka Doncic arrived with the Los Angeles Lakers in a blockbuster trade just under a year ago, the basketball world was left in disbelief. Many believed the Dallas Mavericks significantly shortened their championship window with that deal. At the same time, JJ Redick's team landed a new face of the franchise.
The Slovenian guard, still visibly shocked, understandably needed some time to adjust to his new surroundings. It was obvious it wouldn't take long before he began dominating Crypto.com Arena. Rob Pelinka, who was instrumental in acquiring the 2024 scoring champion, didn't hesita te for a second and handed him a contract extension in the summer.
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In the meantime, many wondered whether LeBron James and Doncic could coexist on the court given their nearly identical skill sets, but the positive answer came very quickly. While their on-court talent was never in question, the hierarchy began to shift and Brian Windhorst explains how that shift has now come due for the Lakers.
"With James and Doncic collectively making $98 million (about 64 percent of the salary cap), it's not a sustainable way forward. This is one reason the Lakers prioritized extending th e contract of the 26-year-old Doncic and not James," Windhorst wrote in his article.
The Lakers are strugglingThe two future Hall of Famers are under scrutiny for their defense, despite being third in the West with a 22–11 record and are standing out historically for the wrong reasons. The Lakers are currently standing at a net rating of -0.2, according to NBA.com.
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How is that possible? The fact is that the Lakers are a perfect 12–0 in clutch situations this season, which is an incredible achievement. At the same time, in each of their 11 losses, they were beaten by double digits.
This clearly shows that the Lakers' record could have been much worse, making the situation even more alarming, despite injuries playing a significant role in the Lakers' locker room so far. All of this leads to the conclusion that the Lakers are not a true contender, despite outstanding individual performances from LeBron and Luka.
All of this prompted Nick Young to give his assessment of whether the Lakers are contenders this season.
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"The Lakers are like the best of the a— teams in the league right now, the top a— team," Young said. "Like when they play the good teams, the teams you're going to see, we're bad. The Houstons, OKCs. They play the teams that you think are going to be a good challenge for them, but they are not on that level. For me, it's obvious."
Can LBJ accept that this is Luka's team?From today's perspective, at the time of the trade, the Lakers still had a 21-time All-Star at the peak of his powers and AD, who was highly complementary to him with his skillset. However, that championship window was rapidly closing. From that standpoint, signing and then extending Luka Magic was understandable.
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Still, as long as LeBron is there, it seems Slovenian's impact cannot be fully maximized. Windhorst, therefore, believes that if Bron wants another title, he will have to take a pay cut so the team can add valuable pieces, or leave to seek his happiness elsewhere, because it is clear this is now Luka's team. The option of retirement is also not being ruled out.
Doncic is still young enough to realistically produce multiple MVP-level seasons. Still, the window for the Larry O'Brien trophy is getting shorter with each passing year. Bron's no-trade clause furt her complicates matters, and from that perspective, it appears the four-time champion holds the franchise's strings as long as he remains with the team.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jan 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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