What the hell is going on with the NBA? In the early minutes of February 2nd, the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. I was playing Xbox when I saw the Twitter notification and immediately stopped what I was doing. It had to be fake. Shams Charania – a sports broadcaster who breaks major NBA stories – must have gotten hacked or received wrong information about a trade. But no, the tweet I saw was real and this trade really did happen.
The Dallas Mavericks just traded away Luka Doncic – the man who led the NBA in scoring last season and then brought his team to the Finals. The Mavericks have successfully been building a roster around Doncic for the last few seasons. First off, they brought in Kyrie Iriving to help Doncic on the offensive side of the ball. Luka has been the offensive engine for the Mavericks ever since he was drafted, but it was made clear in 2022 he needed help. Despite the risk Irving brought being an unrestricted free agent, the Mavericks took that gamble and brokered a trade with the Nets. That risk paid off – Irving has been incredible for the Mavs by taking off some of the offensive load from Doncic. In the 2023 Draft, they got Dereck Lively II, a much-needed center to strengthen the team’s shaky defense. Then, the Maverick’s ownership and general manager Nico Harrison took even more risk building around Doncic defensively by getting P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford to flesh out the front court last year. For the Mavs, these trades worked out in multiple ways – the biggest of course being advancing all the way to the Finals. In the end, they wound up losing 4-1 to the Celtics, but just making it that far was blowing expectations out the water. Nobody thought the Mavs would make it deep in the playoffs, but they did and held their own against Jayson Tatum and company.
The future looked bright for Doncic and the organization as a whole –another reason these previous trades were amazing. Trading for these guys shows Doncic the franchise is in for the long haul. They see him as a star who deserves to be built around and lead this team to the promised land.
Now, there are concerns with Doncic around his conditioning and future contract. If I’m being honest, Doncic’s conditioning is horrible and causes lots of low-effort plays on the defensive end of the ball. However, he led the NBA in scoring last season and averaged almost a triple-double. So in my personal opinion, he can take a few rest plays on defense. His contract, however, was the bigger concern in the eyes of the Mavs. Doncic was eligible for a $354 million super max contract – something he is no longer able to get after this trade. Of course with Doncic being an MVP runner-up and face of the franchise, he was going to need that super max contract. But then it begs the question, why trade him away now?
If you’re the Mavericks, why on Earth would you trade away your star player while you’re fighting for a playoff spot? I mean what are we doing? To add insult to injury, you go out and get ANTHONY DAVIS? This is no disrespect to Anthony Davis whatsoever – he is having an incredible season this year and deserves to be the face of a team. I don’t want to make this seem like Anthony Davis is some scrub, end of the bench kinda guy. He will add great value to Dallas’s defense and give Kyrie another target in the paint. However, he’s 31 years old and notably injury prone. During his five-year tenure with the Lakers, he played at least 60 games in a season just twice due to injury and resting. So instead of trying to go out and get another young superstar in the league, you get a big man who has maybe three or four more seasons of all-star level basketball? I understand wanting to avoid paying Doncic that much money and getting some draft picks in return, but doing it like this seems wrong. To me, the Mavericks got completely fleeced. They got one first round draft pick and two players they didn’t need. Anthony Davis being able to play power forward makes more sense for his style, but you already gave up valuable trade assets and more to get defensive-minded power forwards and centers over the last few seasons. Like I mentioned earlier, they have Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, and P.J. Washington who all fill the depth in the front court. I could see the front office trying to ship off some of the big men they have before the trade deadline, but nothing they get will fill the Luka sized hole in their roster. The Mavericks very well could have just traded away their entire future if what they receive doesn’t work out.
On the other side of the deal, the Lakers. In my opinion, this trade just changed the trajectory of their historic franchise for the next few years. I don’t think they are going to see major success right now. Getting rid of Anthony Davis for a guard leaves their center position uncomfortably thin, but the long term success you get by picking up Doncic means way more long term. The Lakers desperately need big men after this trade. However, with the deadline being only 4 days this trade and still having some pieces available, I can’t imagine filling that role will be hard. The Lakers probably weren’t going to win a ring this year anyway. Despite being fifth in the West, the conference is just far too difficult for them to realistically get through in my opinion, so, setting yourself up for the inevitable retirement of LeBron James is a very smart move. Why not go all in for your future if you know you aren’t winning it all with the roster you have? With Los Angeles being one of the top free agency destinations in the NBA, I have no doubt that the Lakers will be able to bring in a co-star for Luka when LeBron sadly retires.
Nico Harrison, if you end up reading this blog post, please tell us why the trade went through. I, and every other basketball fan, want to know why you would ever trade Doncic for an aging power forward and one bleak first-round pick. I know there are concerns with Doncic’s defense and contract, but what the fuck are you doing. This trade doesn’t set your team up for the future at all – you got absolutely swindled. There was so much money left on the table in this trade. You could have gotten more picks, another guard like Austin Reaves or Dalton Knecht who you could develop to handle the ball in place of Doncic, or just anything else. It seems like you didn’t shop Luka around at all. If I was in Nico Harrison’s shoes and I wanted Luka Doncic out of Dallas, I would let other GMs know my intentions. The trade leverage you have with a player like Luka is insane. You could have shopped Luka around to put stress on the Lakers or just get better offers. I know other teams would have loved to put in an offer for Luka. Evan Sidery reportedly asked an NBA executive how much he would offer in a trade for Luka and they said, “Everything.” Siderly clearly didn’t talk to anyone in the Lakers organization, because they did not give up much long-term. To add insult to injury, not only did you make one of the most shocking trades in NBA history, YOU MADE YOUR CONFERENCE EVEN HARDER. The West is the harder conference to play in, so you make it even harder by setting up the Lakers for long-term success? Why not try and ship Luka off to a team you don’t have to face before the Finals? I can’t imagine any teams in the East don’t want Luka Doncic. He is one of the best players in the world. I simply don’t understand the thought process behind this trade and need an in-depth explanation immediately.
The reaction to this trade has been so insane because so many people are asking these same questions. Fans of both organizations are still in shock, Lakers fans are a little happier about this situation though. Almost every star in the NBA has spoken out about this trade in some form or another. Devin Booker, Dirk Nowitzki, Joel Embiid, and Jalen Brunson are just a few of the big names who have tweeted or spoken about this deal. Even other athletes like Patrick Mahomes and Micah Parsons are giving their two cents on the situation.
Despite all this, I don’t think this trade is the “most shocking in NBA history” because it’s two star players swapping teams. The NBA has seen big-name players leave their teams during the prime of their careers. It’s been happening since the 60s and 70s when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar left the Bucks. This trade is shocking because of the storyline that goes along with it. For 2 decades the Mavericks’ entire existence was Dirk Nowitzki. For those who don’t know (if you are reading this far into the article I expect you know who he is though), Nowitzki was a 7-foot tall, white, German guy who ran the NBA in the 2000s and 2010s with his fade away and amazing shooting talent for a forward. He is considered one of the greatest players ever and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fall in 2023. Dallas fans still love Nowitzki, especially after his legendary 2011 NBA championship. After he retired, the organization and fanbase felt like they were missing that defying piece for their team. Now, it’s 2018 and Nowitzki just retired, so the Mavericks trade for this slow, white, Serbian guy who can shoot and pass like an all star. The legacy has been fulfilled. The Mavericks just found THE guy to replace the great Dirk Nowitzki. The city falls in love with Luka and truly sees him as the heir to Nowitzki’s throne. Dallas loved this man so much there is an official “Luka Doncic Day” every July 6th. Instead of letting him live out his destined legacy as a Maverick, you trade the prince to the Mavericks kingdom. Could you imagine if the Golden State Warriors suddenly traded Stephen Curry to the Pacers for Paul George in 2017? It wouldn’t make any sense. As a non-Mavericks fan, it seems like a stab in the back to the fanbase and a bitter end to a perfect story line in the NBA.
When the smoke clears and people move on from this trade, I can’t wait to see how this pans out for both the teams and players. I mean, we could see Doncic becoming the next legend for the Lakers. If I am wrong and this bet on Anthony Davis works out, please feel free to find my Instagram and tell me how wrong I was. The NBA trade deadline is only a few days away, so I look forward to seeing how other organizations react to this news and change their teams accordingly. Maybe my Milwaukee Bucks will get LeBron (fingers crossed) or trade away Antetokounmpo – only time will tell.
