Jeanie Buss is staying on as Governor for at least the next five years, but her younger brothers Joey and Jesse Buss were recently let go from their front office positions.

According to recent reports, the Lakers’ front office is expected to change this offseason with the organization bringing in more smart people to run the team, similar to what Walter did when he took over the Dodgers. In fact, the Lakers are looking to model their front office after the Dodgers’.

One other change that appears to be on the horizon is president of business operations Tim Harris leaving the organization after this season, per Dan Woike of The Athletic:

Lakers president of business operations Tim Harris informed staff Tuesday that this will be his final season with the organization per sources. Harris, who was the driving force between the massive local TV rights deal with Spectrum SportsNet, has been with the Lakers/The Forum…

— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) February 17, 2026

Harris is a former professional soccer player that grew close to Dr. Jerry Buss and has been working with the Lakers on the business side for the last 30-plus years. He was involved in a lot of key decisions, including their TV deal with Spectrum that gives them a huge advantage over other smaller-market teams.

It remains to be seen how the Lakers will replace Harris, but Walter likely has someone in mind as he has thrived on the business side with the Dodgers in recent years. The Lakers are one of the biggest brands in all of sports, and being able to really capitalize on that will be key for the organization moving forward in this new era.

Jeanie Buss discusses Lakers building around Luka Doncic

On and off the court, the Lakers have a superstar to build around for years to come in Luka Doncic, the 26-year-old who was acquired in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks last year.

After building around LeBron James and Anthony Davis for so many years, the Lakers’ focus now shifts to Doncic, who Jeanie Buss is excited to have in the organization.

“The partnership will give us the stability to continue to move forward as we build towards a team around Doncic,” Buss said. “We couldn’t be more proud that he is a Laker. He is a young all-star that the fans love to see.”

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If he is able to go to another level this season there is no doubt that Doncic will be one of the favorites to take home the NBA MVP award. And former NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway believes he has a very good chance to do just that if he is able to lead the Lakers to a high seed in the Western Conference, via Matt Moore of Action Network:

“You know what? A lot of people are gonna be surprised. He actually should have probably won it one time, but I’m gonna go with Luka Doncic. I think that if he has a really, really good year. If he has a good year like he normally has and they end up in the upper echelons, 1-4 seed. Right around there. I think he has a really, really, really good chance of winning MVP. He should have won it probably about two years ago. But he didn’t win it. He’s that talented. But he still gotta do other stuff. Just because you lose weight, he’s still gonna be the same Luka. This is not overseas. This is the NBA. You’re still gonna have to keep your feet in front of people. They are still gonna go at you. Just ’cause you lost weight,, they don’t believe that you could play defense now. You can move your feet now. You are as agile as you should be, and this and that. You’re still 6’8, you’re still kinda slow. You still move at your own pace. But I would put Luka down as MVP this year.”

The key to this will be the Lakers record and standings in what is set to be a loaded Western Conference. If Luka is able to have a career year and the Lakers are again a top three seed in the West, he will undoubtedly be in the MVP mix. But there will surely be a lot of competition as Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are perennially in the running and there’s always the possibilities of other young players jumping into the mix like Anthony Edwards or Victor Wembanyama.

Hardaway is right in that players and teams will continue to attack Doncic on the defensive end as there will still be questions about his ability to defend even though he has lost weight. The Lakers star did show improved activity during his EuroBasket run, but the NBA will continue to test that once the season begins.

Lakers’ Luka Doncic interested in owning a sports franchise one day

Normally it is Luka Doncic’s Lakers teammate LeBron James who gets mentioned in discussions about owning a sports franchise, and considering he is in the final stages of his career it makes sense. And that may be rubbing off on Luka as he is ‘very interested’ in owning a sports franchise one day as well.

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