Late into Saturday night, many across the country were probably out on the town partying without any premonition that one of the biggest trades in sports history would go down.
Then, they all got the notification: Luka Doncic traded to the Lakers for Anthony Davis. Immediately, the questions started flying. Was Shams hacked? Did Luka quietly request a trade? Did AD quietly request a trade? How on earth were the Lakers able to go to the Mavericks and convince them to part ways with Luka Doncic–a franchise-altering player fresh off an NBA Finals appearance at only 25-years-old?
Well, come to find out the Mavericks were the ones who approached the Lakers dangling Luka. The rationale? Defense wins championships, and there were concerns that Luka was out of shape. They didn’t want to pay him a supermax contract extension in the offseason in fear of the dreaded second apron.
Quite possibly the biggest panic move and nonsensical excuse ever from a front office. Mavericks GM Nico Harrison just threw away guaranteed relevancy for the next decade minimum, signalled that he has no understanding of building a roster around a generational talent and most importantly, betrayed his entire fanbase.
Trading away Doncic this prematurely, to the Lakers of all teams, shows an incompetency in finding solutions to problems that won’t arrive until far later down the road. It’s one thing to be proactive, but this trade is just flatout nuts.
Sure, it’s okay to have your concerns about Luka’s fitness. It’s okay to have doubts on if he’s worth $345 million. It’s even okay to shop him around, let it be known to all 29 teams that he’s available for the right price.
But what’s not okay is trading him out of nowhere to a conference rival on a random Saturday night midseason for a package that is not equal to the value he brings.
This is not a slight at Anthony Davis. He’s a great player who can fit well alongside Kyrie Irving and fellow big man Derek Lively. But it’s hard to not say that this move lowers the ceiling of the team in the present and the future.
“Defense wins championships” is such a cliché and low-thought reasoning for a transaction of this magnitude. Especially when you consider that the Mavericks had the 7th-best defensive rating post trade deadline last season during their Finals run. It’s possible to build a championship-caliber defense around Luka, they literally just did it.
What’s more concerning is that offloading Doncic for Davis isn’t giving you any long-term financial relief, despite what Harrison implies. Davis just signed his extension, meaning that the Mavericks will be paying him about $60 million per year for the next three seasons, until Davis is 35-years-old. Even if that’s nothing compared to what Doncic would ultimately make after an extension, it’s still a better deal to put your eggs in the basket of a 25-year-old superstar who may even have a higher level he’s yet to reach.
Furthermore, this chaotic of a roster move can have even more drastic consequences in the very-near future. Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving, arguably the most volatile player in NBA history, has a player option on his contract coming up in the 2025 offseason. If he, like all of us, was blindsided by this trade, who’s to say he won’t want to pick up and leave if the rest of this season doesn’t go well?
In this scenario, you would be left with just an aging and injury-prone Anthony Davis and a surrounding cast that won’t necessarily be able to help him. It’s not like the Lakers gave the Mavericks a surplus of draft picks, either. In the deal, the Lakers only sent Dallas a single 2029 first-round pick.
It was once thought that this pick would be significantly valuable due to the Lakers’ unknown future without LeBron in 2029, but now that they have Doncic, it’s safe to assume that LA will likely still be a playoff team, which would make this once coveted pick a late first rounder.
Compare this to what was received in other trades that sent away superstars. The Nets got five first rounders plus Mikal Bridges for Kevin Durant. Bridges was subsequently flipped to the Knicks for five more first rounders.
The Jazz received three first rounders, two favorable pick swaps and future all-star Lauri Markkanen for Donovan Mitchell. They also received four first rounders for Rudy Gobert.
Hell, even Marcus Smart netted Kristaps Porzingis and two first-round picks for the Celtics.
This lack of exploration for a deal that could have set up the Mavericks nicely for the future is absolutely shortsighted. Mavericks fans are devastated right now. Nico Harrison’s job is being called for, and rightfully so.
When the news of this deal broke, many were quick to exclaim that it was the biggest, craziest trade of all time. While that is probably true, it’s also the most baffling, self-sabotaging trades of all time. This is the type of move that haunts a franchise for decades.
When the dust settles and Nico Harrison has long-been fired with zero championship rings, this trade will be an example to future NBA GMs of what not to do when you have a 25-year-old with the potential to be the best player in the league.
