Conversely, while James' future in L.A. still remains up in the air, it's expected that Doncic will re-sign with the team, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. The Lakers can offer Doncic a four-year, $229 million extension on Aug. 2, or he can sign a three-year, $165 million extension with a 2028 player option.

Immediately after the news broke, Lakers icon Magic Johnson couldn't wait to share his opinions about the organization's move. Instead of going the more traditional 280-character tweeting route, Johnson hilariously screenshotted an Instagram post from Bleacher Report that showed Ayton in a Lakers jersey alongside Doncic and LeBron James.

Prior to Ayton's surprising availability, pickings looked fairly slim for the Lakers on the center market. They had previously tried to trade for Utah Jazz big man Walker Kessler, but the two sides couldn't agree to a deal.