There isn’t much that could shake the NBA world on a random Saturday night at 10pm. Did Lebron hastily retire? Did someone score 70 points in a game? Nothing could have prepared the NBA and its fans for what was to come next. Luka Doncic, the franchise player of the Dallas Mavericks, was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, also known as AD. The Lakers also received Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris, while the Mavs received Max Christie and the 2029 first-round draft pick.
Luka Doncic is a Slovenian basketball player who started his professional basketball career in the Euroleague, playing for the European giant, Real Madrid. He declared for the NBA Draft in 2018 and was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks quickly traded him to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Trey Young, who was drafted fifth overall in the 2018 NBA Draft. Doncic is widely considered one of the greatest European players ever and had been loved in Dallas ever since his introduction to the team, carrying them to the NBA Finals in the 23/24 Season. The Mavs had a gem of a player on their roster and seemed to have an intent of keeping him for as long as they could. Luka was and still is a generational talent as he showed it on the court, leading the Mavericks franchise in career triple-doubles at just 25 years old.
So why did Mavericks GM, Nico Harrison, decide to throw away such a talent in just one night? Luka had been an amazing offensive threat for the Mavs, but there were flaws to his game. He wasn’t a very avid defender and his stats show it. Many criticized Luka for not trying hard enough to defend in games, but this didn’t seem to matter that much to some. Luka’s physical performance and conditioning also seemed to have been getting slightly worse over the past year, as he had gained a considerable amount of weight over the off-season. This still didn’t seem to affect Luka’s performance to the point where he needed to be traded.
Another reason why this trade is so crazy is that none of the players involved seemed to have any idea of its arrival. Doncic never requested a trade, AD never requested a trade, and the Mavericks were the ones who approached the Lakers for the deal.
In the end, the Lakers have won this trade deal by a mile. LeBron James is considered to be one of the best, or possibly the greatest, to play basketball, even though he is still 40 years old and only has a few more seasons left in the tank. Luka performs a much similar role to LeBron and will be an amazing piece for the Lakers for the foreseeable future. If LeBron retires this season, the Lakers will still have a star player for themselves to keep. The Mavericks, however, seemed to have gambled with their future for this deal. AD is 31 years old and adding him to the current roster only shows how old the starters are for the Mavs. Kyrie Irving, the starting point guard, is 32 years old. Klay Thompson, the starting shooting guard, is 34 years old. PJ Washington, the starting small forward, is 26 years old. Daniel Gafford, the starting center, is also 26 years old. The average age for this starting lineup is almost 30 years old, which is much older than most teams. Though the Mavericks have a lethal 5 for the rest of the season, the Lakers get by with a trade that feels like the heist of a century.
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