The new face of the Lakers, Luka Dončić, played a big role in the Lakers landing Marcus Smart over the Suns.
Buyouts have been the Lakers’ biggest help this offseason as both Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart picked Los Angeles after unexpectedly leaving their prior teams.
In each case, the Lakers were well-positioned to take advantage of the situation. Ayton’s choice was a relatively easy one as the team’s need for a center and his desire to be on a winning situation were a perfect match.
Smart, however, was someone that the Lakers needed to pitch to come to LA. And to do that, the team turned to Luka Dončić. The new face of the franchise played a big role in recruiting the former Defensive Player of the Year, something originally reported by Shams Charania of ESPN on Sunday afternoon.
Later on Sunday, though, we got some more details, including that Luka’s pitch helped Smart pick SoCal over Phoenix, according to longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein.
I’m told that the recent Dončić pitch, once Washington granted the 31-year-old and his agent Jason Glushon permission to talk to other teams in search of a post-buyout landing spot, particularly resonated with Smart and helped lead the former Defensive Player of the Year to choose the Lakers over a determined push by the Suns to land the former Celtic.
For any concerns fans may have had in Luka’s future in LA — most of which felt unfounded anyway — this is a pretty clear sign that nothing has changed. All reports have been that Luka wants to stay in Los Angeles and this just further reiterates that.
It makes sense that Luka wants Smart around. He’s been a consistent pest in the league for a long time now, particularly to the likes of Luka and LeBron James.
One quick early analysis ‘gem’. Marcus Smart top half-court matchups on defense last two seasons:
1. LeBron James, 119 matchups
….
3. Luka Dončić, 80 matchups https://t.co/HCC7qdaAsf— Iztok Franko (@iztok_franko) July 20, 2025
There are a lot of questions regarding health and how much Smart has left in the tank. But there’s a high ceiling if things go right as Smart is a proven contributor and fills a big need on the Lakers roster.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.