AC Milan midfielder Luka Modric – who turns 41 in September – has signed a one-year contract extension.
The Croatian joined Milan last summer on a one-year deal with an option to extend after leaving Real Madrid.
After 13 years at the Bernabeu, Modric scored two goals in 37 appearances for Milan in a season when they finished fifth in Serie A and only reached the last-16 stage of the Coppa Italia.
“I am thrilled to stay at AC Milan, where you made me feel welcomed and loved from the very first day,” Modric said of his new deal.
“After a season below our expectations, the desire to bounce back is immense. A new season and a new challenge await us – a project I believe in and that motivates me.
“I’m ready to continue to give everything again for this shirt and I’m so proud to keep wearing these colours. Can’t wait to return to San Siro and feel your roar.”
Modric has just played in his fifth World Cup, in which Croatia were knocked out in the last 32 by Portugal.
Since Modric became national team captain in 2016, Croatia had previously been runners-up and finished third in the World Cup.
The 2018 Ballon d’Or winner won six Champions League titles and four La Liga titles at Real. Previously, he made 160 appearances for Tottenham Hotspur over four years in north London.
In a statement, Milan said: “A key figure in the Rossoneri midfield since his arrival, Luka has brought his experience and quality to the service of the team, both on and off the pitch, with humility and great passion.
“One of the finest and most iconic players in world football, the Croatian will continue his journey in the Rossoneri shirt with the ambition to reach new, important milestones.”
Brighton have agreed a club record £46m deal with Tottenham Hotspur for Croatia defender Luka Vuskovic.
Brighton had two bids for Vuskovic turned down last month.
However, they have now reached an agreement over a transfer that is also subject to potential additional payments that could take the overall fee to £50m.
The 19-year-old will have a medical when Croatia’s World Cup campaign is over.
They play Portugal in a last-32 tie in the early hours of Friday morning UK time.
Born in Split, Vuskovic came through the academy at local club Hajduk, becoming the youngest player to feature in Croatia’s top flight when he was just 16 – and going on to become his club’s youngest goalscorer.
He agreed a deal with Tottenham in September 2023 that saw him join the club in 2025.
Although he is yet to make his Spurs debut, Vuskovic made 30 appearances on loan with German club Hamburg last season, scoring six goals in the Bundesliga, and is now one of the most highly rated young central defenders in Europe.
He will replace Jan Paul van Hecke in Fabian Hurzeler’s squad.
Ironically, Van Hecke is moving in the opposite direction after Tottenham agreed to pay £52m for the Netherlands international, who had a year left on his Brighton contract.
Questions surely will follow Dusty May as he leaps to the Dallas Mavericks after coaching Michigan to the NCAA national championship.
Can he provide blessed amnesia to the Mavericks faithful? Can he help them forget Luka Doncic and Nico Harrison and Anthony Davis and Jason Kidd? Can he allow them to peer into a future anchored by budding superstar Cooper Flagg without constantly checking the rearview mirror?
May, 49, was hired Tuesday as the Mavericks’ head coach,. He led Michigan to the pinnacle of March Madness last season and posted a 64-13 record in two years. He also coached Florida Atlantic to the 2023 Final Four and a 60-13 record in the last two of his six seasons there.
“We set out to find a leader who embodies the values we want to define our organization,” Mavericks president Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “Dusty has won at every stage of his career because of his ability to build. He develops players, creates accountability, and brings people together around a shared standard of excellence. His work ethic is extraordinary, and his teams consistently reflect his values.”
The list of high-profile college coaches who struggled to replicate their success in the NBA is daunting: Rick Pitino, John Calipari, John Beilein, Lon Kruger, Tim Floyd and Mike Montgomery immediately leap to mind.
Not only did May not coach or play in the NBA, he barely played in college. He was a 5-foot-10 point guard at NAIA Oakland City for one season before transferring to Indiana and serving as team manager under coach Bobby Knight.
But his arrival will divert attention from the past, from the hugely unpopular and disastrous trade of Doncic to the Lakers for Davis and spare parts on Feb. 1, 2025.
Mavericks fans staged a faux funeral complete with a casket a day later in front of the Dirk Nowitzki statue outside American Airlines Center. They booed Harrison — the general manager who engineered the deal — at every home game and chanted “Fire Nico.”
When Doncic returned as an opponent, Mavericks fans chanted “MVP” when the Laker shot free throws.
Harrison admitted to underestimating the backlash from fans but defended the trade, initially saying he had “no regrets.” By November, he was fired and updated his social media profile to “unemployed.”
Next to go was Kidd, a Hall of Fame point guard who helped the Mavericks to their only NBA title as a player and to the NBA Finals as a coach. At the time, it wasn’t clear whether Kidd was an advocate of the Doncic deal or a victim of a front-office blunder. But Mark Cuban, the Mavericks’ former majority owner who currently owns 27% of the team, indicated March 31 during a podcast that Kidd was complicit.
“I think there was animosity between [Harrison] and some people on Luka’s team — his agent and some of the people around them,” Cuban said. “I don’t think they got along. I think there were issues.
“J-Kidd had coached Anthony Davis and was close to him, and Nico was close to AD since he was like 13 years old. So I think there was some confirmation bias as well. But that doesn’t justify our coach and our general manager to stand up and trade our best player.”
Doncic, 26, flourished in his first season in Los Angeles despite a late-season injury that kept him out of the playoffs. The shooting guard led the NBA with 33.5 points per game and he will be a franchise cornerstone. Davis played only 20 games with Dallas because of injuries and in February was traded to the Washington Wizards.
The makeover began when the Mavericks secured the first pick in the 2025 NBA draft despite having only a 1.8% chance of obtaining it through the lottery. They took Flagg, a forward from Duke who went on to lead Dallas with 21 points per game and was named rookie of the year.
Next, they hired respected former Raptors executive Ujiri as team president. And now they have added May as coach. This week they will add two more promising players via the first round of the draft.
“I am honored to join the Dallas Mavericks organization,” May said in a statement. “This is one of the most respected franchises in professional sports, with passionate fans, a talented roster, and a clear commitment to building a championship organization.”
The franchise is trying to eliminate reminders while attempting to instill hope for the future.
“When you study [May’s] journey, you see someone who has earned every opportunity through preparation, discipline, humility, and an unwavering commitment to improvement,” Ujiri said. “We believe those qualities make him the right leader for the Dallas Mavericks.”
Meanwhile at Michigan, a loaded roster will report to interim coach Mike Boynton Jr., May’s top assistant and the head coach at Oklahoma State from 2019 to 2024. Players are allowed to enter the transfer portal for 15 days following a coaching change, so job one for Boynton will be to keep them from fleeing.
Luka Doncic could be involved in two championship bids this upcoming season.
The Lakers superstar and former Dallas Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson are leading an investor group that acquired a professional basketball team in Italy, it was announced Friday, with hopes that the franchise could become part of the NBA’s new European venture.
The group plans to move Vanoli Cremona, a team that plays in a northern Italian city about 60 miles southeast of Milan, to Rome, and submitted a bid for the club to join NBA Europe, making Doncic the first player to state his ambition to become part of the NBA’s expansion across the pond.
“I have dreamed about owning a team in Europe for a long time, to finally have this happen is amazing,” Doncic said in a statement. “Vanoli has a great history, and we are ready to take it to the next level in Rome. We have an amazing group of partners, and I really believe we can do something special for basketball in Italy and Europe.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said this year that the NBA is working with FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, to begin a stand-alone league in Europe. The league could begin as soon as October 2027 with up to 16 teams hosted in major cities in England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece and Turkey.
Rome and Milan are the top Italian targets to host NBA Europe teams. Rome, the Italian capital, has not had a Serie A team since 2020, when Virtus Roma ceased operations because of financial difficulties. Vanoli will begin playing in Rome for the 2026-27 season.
“Rome deserves world-class basketball, and we are excited to be bringing it back,” Nelson said in a statement. “Vanoli Cremona has a proud history, and we are committed to honoring that legacy as we build toward an exciting future in Rome. This city has been without top-flight basketball for too long. That changes now. We are bringing the resources, the expertise, and the passion to make this club a source of pride for Rome and for all Italy.”
Nelson, who is the lead investor and managing partner, was the general manager when the Mavericks traded for Doncic on draft night in 2018 and was the architect of Dallas’ 2011 NBA championship team led by German star Dirk Nowitzki. The investor group also includes Valerio Bianchini, a celebrated coach in the Italian league, and Rimantas Kaukėnas, a 17-year pro across European leagues.
The 27-year-old Doncic, who was born in Slovenia and started his professional career with Real Madrid in Spain, is part of a recent wave of international stars taking over the NBA. The last eight most valuable players have been born outside of the United States. Doncic finished fourth in MVP voting this year behind two-time winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is from Canada, three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who is from Serbia, and Victor Wembanyama, a 22-year-old Frenchman expected to dominate the league for years.
The NBA played two regular-season games in Europe this season, with the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic facing off in Berlin and London. Next season, Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs will play in his home country against the New Orleans Pelicans and in Manchester, England.
Welcome back to The Times’ Lakers newsletter, where we’re not in Cancun just yet.
I fortunately have gotten some much-needed sleep during the week since the Lakers were eliminated, but NBA news never rests, especially during this pivotal offseason that could reshape the entire roster.
With almost half of the roster spots in flux, we’ll start with one player who we know will be back next season.
All things Lakers, all the time.
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Luka Doncic fourth in MVP voting
He led the league in scoring but Luka Doncic finished a distant fourth in the most valuable player voting, which was announced Sunday before Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
While Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won his second consecutive MVP in a landslide, Doncic didn’t receive a first-place vote. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 939 total points and 83 first-place votes. Nikola Jokic was second (634 total points, 10 first-place votes) and Victor Wembanyama was third (569 points, five first-place votes). Doncic, who had 250 total points, only had one second-place vote, and even fifth-place finisher Cade Cunningham had two first-place votes that contributed to his 117-point total.
A global media panel of 100 voters selected the winner of the 2025-26 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award.
This MVP discussion was one of the most competitive in recent memory. A fourth-place finish, especially without a single first-place nod, doesn’t quite do justice to how productive Doncic’s season was. He averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Despite playing without Doncic for the last month, the Lakers maintained a top-four seed in the competitive Western Conference and won 50 games for the second consecutive year. It was just the fourth time in the last 20 years that the league’s scoring champion didn’t receive a first-place MVP vote.
Some of the MVP race comes down to campaigning. Wembanyama, along with stellar play, repeatedly made his case during interviews. Doncic brushed off any chances to do the same.
Doncic preferred to let his play speak, but the message didn’t quite get through. During one of the most magical Marches in league history, Doncic dropped from second in NBA.com’s MVP ladder to fourth.
The season-ending hamstring injury on April 2 didn’t give him a chance to restate his case.
The more disappointing effect of the injury was that Doncic was not close to returning in time for the postseason, where he watched from the sideline as the Lakers got swept by the Thunder.
“It’s very frustrating,” Doncic said last week in his exit interview immediately after the season-ending loss. “I know some people wanted me back, but obviously I wasn’t close to clearing. … If I could be out there, I would be, 100%. Everybody in that room knows that. But it was very tough. Like I said, this is the best time to play basketball. I was sad not to be able to help my team.”
Doncic said he will not play for the Slovenian national team this summer while he prioritizes time with his daughters and recovering. His second daughter Olivia was born in December, and Doncic, who missed two games to be present for the birth, quietly managed a custody battle during the season after he and his former fiancee split.
The last 15 months have been tumultuous for Doncic, but he grew as a leader for the Lakers, coach JJ Redick said, specifically in his dedication to building off-court relationships with teammates after the shocking trade that brought him to L.A. left him in a daze for months.
“I don’t think we got the best version of Luka, the person, [last year],” Redick said. “He was great, but he was phenomenal this year as a teammate and a leader. And obviously, as a player, the guy had a tier one season relative to the rest of the league.”
Still first in the Lakers’ hearts
Will Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton be back with the Lakers next season?
(Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images)
Doncic took his role as a leader so seriously last season that it started during free agency when he placed recruiting calls to Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton. With both players facing player options to return, Doncic didn’t commit to trying to woo anyone back.
“We’ll see,” Doncic said. “Can’t tell you nothing.”
Most of the Lakers’ roster could change next season, but Doncic is still at the center of every decision. General manager Rob Pelinka said it’s an “ongoing collaborative process” with Doncic regarding any offseason moves.
Pelinka said the roster will be “retrofitted” around Doncic. It wasn’t that long ago that a superstar still in his prime fell in the franchise’s lap, which shook up every existing blueprint. The new archetype are three-and-D players and rim-running centers.
Ayton was supposed to be a solution at center when he signed last year. When asked how he is approaching his player option, Ayton said after the season-ending game that he hadn’t made a decision yet, but that he had enjoyed his time with the organization thus far.
“It’s purple and gold, that’s about it,” said Ayton, who was the No. 1 pick in the same draft in which Doncic went third. “Just being honored and happy to be on this platform. And another chance, and all of that. There’s great players I learned [from] here.”
Ayton flashed his potential. He was a force during the first-round playoff win over Houston. The Lakers needed him in that series and he delivered. But he also acknowledged that it was “a very humbling experience” being on a team that did not need him to score, instead asking him to primarily rebound and defend the rim with consistency.
Considering that Ayton is coming off career-lows in points (12.5), rebounds (eight) and minutes (27.2) per game, it might be hard for him to command a better salary than the $8.1-million option he has on the table.
Smart can opt into $5.4 million. The 32-year-old could decline the player option with hopes of securing a long-term contract, whether with the Lakers or elsewhere, after he proved he could still be an effective defensive spark plug and offensive shot-maker. Had a late-season right ankle injury not lingered so long, Smart, who played only 62 regular-season games, could have been in the conversation for an all-defensive team nod.
The Lakers need strong defensive players around Doncic and Austin Reaves if the duo reunite as the team’s backcourt of the future. The chemistry on and off the court between the guards was one of the highlights of the season and a reason to be hopeful that it could work in the future.
Doncic called playing with Reaves and LeBron James “an unbelievable experience.” Pelinka said at his end-of-season news conference that Reaves has expressed interest in returning to the Lakers. James’ future is more uncertain: Pelinka said the team will give James space to decide on his own, although he “would love” to have the NBA’s all-time leading scorer back.
Favorite thing I ate this week
Pho with rare beef and beef balls from Pho Show in Culver City.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
I was playing hurt the last few days of the season. I sniffled, sneezed and hand-sanitized my way through Game 4 and the end-of-season news conference with Pelinka and Redick then scooped up the ultimate sick day dinner: pho.
The pho tai bo vien (rare beef and beef ball pho) from Culver City’s Pho Show didn’t heal me completely, but it sure helped. I basically slept for three straight days after the Lakers’ season ended. Now between the remaining playoff games across the league, I’ll be catching up on TV shows, reuniting with the friends I neglected for months and enjoying my rent.
