It was the trade heard ‘round the world: Luka Doncic traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in a stunning blockbuster deal that has been called one of the biggest trades in the history of professional sports.
The NBA trade deadline came and went on Thursday, February 6th. It marked the last day that teams can trade players and assets for the rest of the season. Some teams made deals to contend for a championship, while others looked to set up their franchises’ futures by acquiring draft capital and young prospects.
The biggest pre-deadline trade was undoubtedly the Dallas Mavericks sending Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis (and first round pick) in part of a three-team trade with the Utah Jazz.
This movie was one of the biggest surprises in the history of the NBA. Trade deadline rumors circulate constantly, and this was an incredibly rare if not unheard of occurrence where a star was dealt away not just in his prime, but without any rumors of a potential move. Doncic is a 25 year old 5x All Star coming off of an NBA finals appearance with the Mavs just last season. Many anticipated that Doncic would be a Maverick for the next decade, and maybe even see his number retired and hanging in the Dallas rafters someday.
Mavs fans, like the rest of the league, were left stunned and confused, now unsure of the direction of their franchise as they watched their former star head to the west coast to play with LeBron James and the Lakers. Their acquisition, Davis, is a sensational player in his own right, but is seven years older than Doncic and has been injury prone in the past. Davis went down with a non-contact abdominal strain in his first game as a Maverick that is expected to sideline him for the next several weeks, only adding to the concern of Mavericks fans.
Many have criticized the Mavericks’ front office for the deal and the lack of sufficient return value they got for a player that most would consider to be top three in the world. Besides Davis, the Mavericks only received one first round pick and several bench players. A player of Doncic’s caliber usually warrants a slew of picks in return at the very least, and many believe the Mavs came out of the unprecedented deal shorthanded.
Mavericks General Manager, Nico Harrison, cited work ethic concerns as the reason for moving on from Doncic who has reportedly been out of shape since the beginning of the season. Despite any legitimacy to these claims, the Mavericks will need to make a strong championship run this year to quiet the noise regarding this shocking move that gripped the entire world when it went down.
Hopefully the author of this article uses it in their portfolio to help land future writing gigs. Terrific piece and a fascinating read.