{"id":75105,"date":"2025-06-04T00:21:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T00:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/75105\/"},"modified":"2025-06-04T00:21:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T00:21:10","slug":"re-signing-impressive-la-lakers-teammate-could-be-key-to-keeping-luka-doncic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/75105\/","title":{"rendered":"Re-signing impressive LA Lakers teammate could be key to keeping Luka Doncic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LA Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka must consider extending one of his key players to ensure Luka Doncic is at his happiest.<\/p>\n

The 2024-25 regular season sparked a ray of hope for the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> as they clinched the third seed in the Western Conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, the Laker Nation\u2019s happiness didn\u2019t last long as they were eliminated in the first round<\/a> at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves.<\/p>\n

With the Lakers facing an early elimination, it became clear that the front office needed to make<\/a> a few key changes to the roster ahead of next season.<\/p>\n

\"HoustonPhoto by Katelyn Mulcahy\/Getty ImagesRe-signing Dorian Finney-Smith should be a priority for the LA Lakers<\/p>\n

Signing a quality center should be priority No. 1 for the Purple and Gold this offseason, there\u2019s no denying that.<\/p>\n

Considering the Lakers have $50 million-plus in expiring contracts, it should give GM Rob Pelinka<\/a> incredible flexibility.<\/p>\n

Among those contracts also lies the $15.3 million player option of Dorian Finney-Smith<\/a>. While there\u2019s no word on whether DFS will opt-in or decline and sign a better deal, Pelinka needs to make the latter happen.<\/p>\n

Finney-Smith averaged 7.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game for the Lakers last season. But more importantly, re-signing Finney-Smith could be key to convincing superstar Luka Doncic<\/a> to sign a longer deal with the Lakers.<\/p>\n

As of now, Doncic is eligible to sign a four-year, $228 million contract extension with the Lakers ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season.<\/p>\n

The Dorian Finney-Smith connection for Luka Doncic<\/p>\n

Despite a rocky end to the 2024-25 season, there\u2019s no doubt that Doncic is one of the most talented superstars in the NBA right now.<\/p>\n

For reasons beyond the average NBA fan\u2019s understanding, the Dallas Mavericks decided to part ways with Doncic in a blockbuster trade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Whether it was a stroke of luck for the Lakers or not, it\u2019s time for Pelinka to ensure that Luka stays committed to the team. To do that, he needs to surround Doncic with people he trusts, and that includes Finney-Smith.<\/p>\n

The two stars shared the locker room with the Mavs<\/a>. Moreover, Doncic was delighted to find DFS<\/a> on the roster when he was traded to the Lakers.<\/p>\n

Although Doncic has played fewer than 30 games for the Lakers in the regular season, it\u2019s clear that he shares an excellent bond with Finney-Smith<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Keeping that in mind, Pelinka needs to do everything in his power to convince Finney-Smith to re-sign with the Purple and Gold. Thus, improving the Lakers\u2019 odds of keeping Doncic happy in the longer run.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LA Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka must consider extending one of his key players to ensure Luka Doncic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,374,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,368,6,3088,574],"class_list":{"0":"post-75105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-lakers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-dorian-finney-smith","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-la-lakers","12":"tag-lakers","13":"tag-lalakers","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","16":"tag-losangeles","17":"tag-losangeleslakers","18":"tag-luka-doncic","19":"tag-nba","20":"tag-rob-pelinka","21":"tag-western-conference"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114622241193682778","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}