How the Lakers Can Have Max Cap Space in 2027
I look at the Lakers cap space plans and how Luka Doncic's upcoming extension and a lucrative new contract for Austin Reaves factor in. I also look at De'Aaron Fox who can sign the same extension.
We are coming up on six months since the Luka Doncic trade, which doesn’t seem right. It feels like it was done years ago with the amount of discourse it’s generated and continues to receive.
It also means that Doncic’s six-month trade restriction is about to expire. This limits players to receiving a four-year contract in an extension (including the current season) with a 120 percent raise off the final year of the current contract, and no more than a five percent raise in subsequent seasons. This currently limits him to a maximum extension projected at three years, $156.7 million.
That restriction expires on August 2, which would allow him to add a fifth year and up 8 percent raises instead of 5 percent in an extension. This would increase his maximum extension amount up to four years, projected at $222.4 million. It would require him to decline his $49 million player option and replace it with a $49.6 million starting salary.
2026-27: $49,641,600 (30 percent of the salary cap)
2027-28: $53,612,928
2028-29: $57,584,256
2029-30: $61,555,584
Total: $222,394,368
This projection is based on the 2026-27 salary cap rising by 7 percent. If the cap rises by the 10 percent maximum, then the value of the extension increases to $228.6 million. Doncic will be entitled to no less than a 5 percent on the first year of a maximum extension in 2026-27, resulting in a minimum of $218.2 million. If he and his camp anticipate a salary cap rise below 5 percent, then he would make a little more money by opting into $49 million player option and extending off that amount.
Doncic qualified for the supermax with the Mavericks following the 2023-24 season. It would’ve allowed him to extend with them for up to five years, projected at $336.9 million. The lost earnings led to speculation that if he extended with the Lakers, it would be on a three-year contract with a player option. This would allow him to opt out after his 10th season so he can re-sign with the Lakers on a maximum contract worth 35 percent of the salary cap.
He could’ve signed such an extension already within the limitations of his trade restriction, though the smaller raises would’ve made the extension about $5 million less in total value. The fact that he’s waited until now to extend suggests he might sign the four-year extension that would take him past his 10th season. And there’s reporting indicating he may choose that route.
According to Dallas Hoops Journal and Sportsklub, a Slovenian sports publication, Doncic and the Lakers are expected to agree on a four-year maximum extension. The additional year on a below-market contract would be a gesture suggesting a long-term commitment to the Lakers. For them, it justifies giving up what they did to acquire him.