The Los Angeles Lakers centered their 2025 offseason around Luka Donu010diu0107, not LeBron James, and understandably so. Their priorities shifted when Luka essentially fell into their laps at the February deadline. Los Angeles checked off its top to-do on its offseason list, signing Luka to a three-year, $165 million extension, but the team didn't approach LeBron about an extension.
LeBron exercised his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season, so he's on an expiring contract for the first time in his career. Although the decision not to extend him felt wrong, given that he is LeBron James, it was the right move.