The Price of Luka: What the Lakers Still Owe for Their…

By the Lakers Nightly Desk · Thursday, October 1

Luka Doncic opens his first full season in Los Angeles with the record reset to 0-0, and the price the Lakers paid to get him is still being paid off in draft picks and payroll. Head coach JJ Redick, now in his sophomore year on the bench, and general manager Rob Pelinka have spent camp fielding questions about both.

Lakers Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

The Trade's True Cost

Pelinka built this roster around a trade that still has not finished being paid for. On February 1, 2025, the Lakers sent Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick to Dallas for Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris. That obligation sits alongside a protected 2027 first owed to Memphis and pick swaps tied to Brooklyn and Memphis through 2030, leaving the Lakers thin on draft capital into the next decade. The return, so far, is a player who averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists over 64 games last season, numbers that argue the bet already looks sound before he plays a minute of his first full year in Los Angeles.

A Payroll Already Stretched

The other half of the bill is financial. The Lakers carry a $204.0 million payroll, above the $200.4 million luxury tax line and nearing the $209.0 million first apron, anchored by Doncic's $49.8 million, Austin Reaves' $41.2 million, Walker Kessler's $30.2 million and Quentin Grimes' $14.0 million. That spending bought a 53-29 record last season, but an offense that ranked 10th and a defense that ranked 19th netted only a plus-1.5 rating, 14th in the league, middling results for a team already past the tax line. LeBron James' departure for the 76ers this summer only sharpens the question of who else is supposed to close that gap.

Where the Answer Lands

Camp talk has circled the same tension. Pelinka spent a September 25 sitdown on LeBron, the offseason, Kessler and ownership; Redick used his own that day to talk through the starting lineup, Doncic, Slovenia and trade targets, without committing to specifics on any of them. Kessler, who played just five games last season, is the clearest swing factor, since a healthy, disruptive center changes the math on a defense that ranked 19th. The honest answer: the Doncic bet already looks right on talent alone, but it pays off fully only if Redick's rotation and a healthy Kessler turn a bottom-half defense into a top-ten unit before the picks owed to Dallas and Memphis come due.

What picks does the Lakers' trade for Luka Doncic still cost them?

The February 1, 2025 deal sent Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick to Dallas for Doncic, so that first-rounder is still owed. The Lakers also owe a protected 2027 first to Memphis and pick swaps to Brooklyn and Memphis through 2030.

Why are the Lakers already over the luxury tax line?

A $204.0 million payroll built around Doncic's $49.8 million, Austin Reaves' $41.2 million and Walker Kessler's $30.2 million sits above the $200.4 million tax line before a single regular-season game tips off.

By the Lakers Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.