Originally published by LakersNation.com
General manager Rob Pelinka and the Los Angeles Lakers moved in silence to land superstar Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks back in February of 2025. They made the deal — as any team would — but then were left with a team that was not equipped to best support Doncic in a championship effort. Even still, the team completed back-to-back 50-win seasons with postseason berths.
The summer of 2026 represented Pelinka’s first real opportunity to reshape the roster to fit the needs of Doncic. They did so by adding players like Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton and more to build what they believe is a younger, deeper and more fitting roster. Pelinka and Doncic worked together every step of the way, and the Lakers’ GM explained why that was so important to do.
“I think one of the things we’ve learned in our partnership, and it even maybe goes back to some of my days representing players, is the importance of co-creating,” Pelinka said at his preseason press conference. “We have to do our jobs. As the president and general manager, I’ve got to make the final call on roster decisions, and JJ’s got to make the final call as a head coach. But when you can co-create something that’s powerful with a star like Luka, and retrofit a team around him, then there’s buy in. We love those roundtable discussions where ideas are shared.
“Ultimately, I’ll do my job to make the final decision. But to get the input of a basketball savant like him, who sees the game at such a high level, Luka is the world’s greatest offensive player. For us to be able to have an opportunity as a franchise to have that player in our building every night as a 26-year-old is special. And it requires us to do special things to build the team around him. That’s what we started this summer and we’re really, really happy with the way it’s looking so far.”
The Lakers obviously think very highly of Doncic, and have made it clear over the last year-and-a-half that this is his team above anyone else. They doubled down on that in their communication with him on building out the roster that they have today.
The 2024 Mavericks have been seen as the blueprint for a winning team around Doncic, and while there are similarities, there are reasons to believe this team can be even better than that one.
Luka Doncic lands at No. 4 on ESPN NBA Rank
The Lakers believe they have the greatest offensive player in the world, but ESPN’s annual NBA Rank doesn’t quite agree. They had Doncic finishing at No. 4 for the 2026-27 season, behind Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilegous-Alexander.
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
General manager Rob Pelinka and the Los Angeles Lakers moved in silence to land superstar Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks back in February of 2025. They made the deal — as any team would — but then were left with a team that was not equipped to best support Doncic in a championship effort. Even still, the team completed back-to-back 50-win seasons with postseason berths.
The summer of 2026 represented Pelinka’s first real opportunity to reshape the roster to fit the needs of Doncic. They did so by adding players like Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton and more to build what they believe is a younger, deeper and more fitting roster. Pelinka and Doncic worked together every step of the way, and the Lakers’ GM explained why that was so important to do.
“I think one of the things we’ve learned in our partnership, and it even maybe goes back to some of my days representing players, is the importance of co-creating,” Pelinka said at his preseason press conference. “We have to do our jobs. As the president and general manager, I’ve got to make the final call on roster decisions, and JJ’s got to make the final call as a head coach. But when you can co-create something that’s powerful with a star like Luka, and retrofit a team around him, then there’s buy in. We love those roundtable discussions where ideas are shared.
“Ultimately, I’ll do my job to make the final decision. But to get the input of a basketball savant like him, who sees the game at such a high level, Luka is the world’s greatest offensive player. For us to be able to have an opportunity as a franchise to have that player in our building every night as a 26-year-old is special. And it requires us to do special things to build the team around him. That’s what we started this summer and we’re really, really happy with the way it’s looking so far.”
The Lakers obviously think very highly of Doncic, and have made it clear over the last year-and-a-half that this is his team above anyone else. They doubled down on that in their communication with him on building out the roster that they have today.
The 2024 Mavericks have been seen as the blueprint for a winning team around Doncic, and while there are similarities, there are reasons to believe this team can be even better than that one.
Luka Doncic lands at No. 4 on ESPN NBA Rank
The Lakers believe they have the greatest offensive player in the world, but ESPN’s annual NBA Rank doesn’t quite agree. They had Doncic finishing at No. 4 for the 2026-27 season, behind Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilegous-Alexander.
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.