On Saturday night, after an ABC primetime game between the Lakers and the Knicks, basketball fans saw the tweet from NBA insider Shams Charania. Twenty-five-year-old megastar Luka Doncic was traded from the Mavericks to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick.
Doncic is a five-time all star, the scoring leader in the 2023-2024 season and carried the Mavs on his back to a finals appearance just 7 short months ago. So why would you trade such a young phenom?
Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison reportedly gave us two reasons why. Defense and conditioning were Harrison’s big concerns for the star. Luka was due for a 5-year, $345M contract after this season, in Texas with no state income tax. Now, in LA, he will see a 13 percent state income tax and is not able to get the same supermax-contract he would have received had he stayed in Dallas. Harrison stated he would have been reluctant to give Luka the supermax despite most of the league knowing that is easily his value.
The Mavericks, contrary to popular belief, did get what they wanted and that is defense. Anthony Davis is an all-star and a perennial defensive player of the year candidate. Max Christie is a young player with a high ceiling on both ends of the court. Time will tell if that was worth trading arguably the most valuable asset in the sport. But, no question, they could have gotten more on the trade market if they called other teams outside of the Lakers.
“The deal materialized in the shadows,” said Shams, as no one included in the deal or even Lebron knew it was coming.
The Lakers are now 5th in 2024-2025 NBA Championship according to Fox Sports. The combination of Luka Doncic and Lebron James will surely put the ball in the hoops and people in the seats.
Los Angeles has been looking for their post-Lebron plan as the 40-year-old has stated that most likely he will retire after this season or after next season: It is safe to say they found it. Possibly the two biggest stars in the NBA, dawning the purple and gold, is exactly what Lakers GM Rob Pelinka had in mind. This is the best duo in the league in the biggest market.
Mavericks fans are in disbelief, and it is easy to see why. Their general manager who has been with the Mavs the last four years and has put together a very good team centered around “The Don” and traded him for an aging star and a wing prospect.
This was a Nico Harrison standalone move as most in the front office thought he was joking when he floated the idea around. Owner Mark Cuban was not even alerted that this was a real possibility. Harrison has put his job on the line with this shady move if this trade doesn’t produce immediate results.
Some at Brookdale are not a fan of the trade as Michael Zetka, an 18-year-old Brookdale student from Hazlet, said, “I think Jerry Jones is happy he isn’t the worst GM in Texas.” (Jones is the highly criticized owner of the floundering Dallas Cowboys.
“Mavericks GM should be fired; they are out of their mind,” said Connor Maher, an 18-year-old criminal justice major from Union Beach. Time will tell if this trade is as lopsided as the public perceives it, but surely trading your young superstar at the start of his prime for “lack of conditioning” isn’t ideal.
