Trade Anniversary

Ironic, seeming as yesterday's article was about looking past the nonsense that was the Luka Doncic trade for Anthony Davis. However, seeming as today is the anniversary of that trade, I feel it only necessary to look back and see whether or not Dallas really accomplished what they were looking for when they traded their franchise cornerstone. A trade so ridiculous, Shams literally had to remind people that it was indeed real.

The Mavs were 26-23, sitting at the 8th seed while the Lakers were 32-19 sitting at the number 5 spot in the conference. Both teams were getting themselves ready for the late stretch of the season where it becomes crucial to see what the playoffs would look like. The Lakers themselves had Lebron James playing at a very high level as per usual, but the Mavs were obviously in a little bit of a struggle due to the fact Doncic was out with a calf strain. There had been some whispers of discomfort around Luka's calf problems and his overall performance of the season, but nothing too ridiculous to think he would be traded. On the other hand, the Lakers had become one of the better defensive teams of the league. Anthony Davis was playing at a decent level, but just like Luka, he himself was out dealing with injuries. It's no secret Davis has had his fair share of injury problems.

Then, they were traded.

Following the trade, many Laker fans were estatic. Luka Doncic, a generational player was coming to LA to pair up with Lebron James. To say the other side of this even had 1/10th of the enthusiasm of the Lakers fans is an overstatement. Mavs fans were wrecked, many of them jumping to support sorely Luka. Infamous protests about the trade were had including this one guy with the famous " he was supposed to have a statue" rant. He also went and petitioned in front of city council to stop any attempts made by the new owners to establish a casino in Texas.

https://x.com/i/status/1886298374137114864

In return, the Mavs got Anthony Davis and Max Christie with a couple of first round picks. Christie's been a nice scorer for the Mavs and has been having a great overall year, however Davis continued to struggle with injuries so much so that he has not even played a fraction of a season due to his injury issues, which is a shame because the Mavs are a much better team with him in the lineup than without. This wasn't just a betrayal for Luka, Davis was also blindsided by Pelinka and the Lakers. A man who played a instrumental role in getting them a championship and them being a contender in the west. He was dealt the same hand as Luka, something that was overshadowed by the monumental effect Luka Doncic had on the game and had for this city.

I won't mention the addition of Flagg, because that wasn't Nico Harrison's vision. He even said himself in the press conference that this was a win-now move, not a move for the future. One year later and here's the hard truth, no one really won this trade. The Lakers at least secured their future cornerstone to build around for the future, but the Mavs reset every single thing they did since Luka came here. Essientially, the Mavs went backwards 7 years for no apparent reason only that Luka was slightly overweight and had defensive issues. Mind you, as a 5th seed, the Dallas Mavs made the finals and Luka Doncic won the scoring title. The Lakers walked out of this deal with something, the Mavericks set themselves back sorely because of ego.