To make room to bring Smart aboard, the Lakers on Sunday waived guards Shake Milton and Jordan Goodwin. This article was originally published on www.si.com as Marcus Smart Opens Up About Luka Doncic's Lakers Recruitment: 'Meant a Lot'.

The Los Angeles Lakers are fully focused on Luka Doncic as the future of their franchise. LeBron James is still on the roster, but over the last couple of weeks it has become clear that the team has moved on from focusing on him to Doncic.

Discover why Marcus Smart selected the Lakers over other teams, citing LeBron James and Luka Doncic as major influences.

New signings Luka Modric and Mexican striker Santiago Gimenez will not be part of AC Milan's preseason tour across the Asia-Pacific region.

Kylian Mbappé is switching numbers. The Real Madrid superstar is going from the No. 9 he wore last season to No. 10 after Luka Modrić left this summer for AC Milan, per ESPN's Julien Laurens, freeing up the number.

Marcus Smart is officially a Laker, and he's already locked in on chasing a championship. In his introductory press conference and a follow-up interview with ESPN LA, the former Defensive Player of the Year spoke candidly about what drew him to Los Angeles and what he hopes to bring to the team.

"Because the Mavericks' post-Doncic collapse in the 2024-25 season meant they ended up in the lottery, where they miraculously lucked into the No. 1 pick and Cooper Flagg their future looks brighter than that of the Suns, Bucks, Nets or Kings," Kram wrote.

Growing up in Slovenia, Doncic had two sporting loves as a child and he believes that both helped him in his career.