Basketball <\/p>\n
It\u2019s still hard to believe the Luka Doncic-for-Anthony Davis trade between the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> and Dallas Mavericks<\/a> is real. Trades like this only happen in fantasy basketball or NBA 2K dynasties; in the real world, 25-year-olds with five First-Team All-NBA nods do not get traded without forcing their way out. Doncic never asked for a trade from the Mavericks, but he suddenly finds himself as the new face of the Lakers anyway.<\/p>\n It\u2019s possible that lead Mavs executive Nico Harrison is the only person in the basketball world who believes this is a good trade for the Mavericks. Meanwhile, it feels like only the Lakers could be hand delivered a talent like Doncic without a true bidding war.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve already handed out grades for every side of the three-team trade<\/a> involving the Lakers, Mavericks, and Jazz. Now let\u2019s zoom out and look at the big picture winners and losers after this deal.<\/p>\n If there\u2019s one thing you can consistently count on in the NBA, it\u2019s the Lakers landing superstars. It doesn\u2019t matter how it happens or whether it makes sense, the defining players of every generation somehow tend to find themselves playing for the Lakers in every era.<\/p>\n Like, seriously.<\/p>\n The Knicks have spent 30 years running headfirst into every available wall while trying to find a way to finally get a true MVP-caliber superstar on their roster and meanwhile the Lakers picked up the phone one day and got asked \u201cHello, would you like Luka Doncic?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 One Dozen Rats at a Keyboard (@PanasonicDX4500) February 2, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Come on.<\/p>\n the worst part in all of this is now the most vile \u201cpeople\u201d in human history, lakers fans, are completely justified in posting shit like this. my god are they wicked in their ways. https:\/\/t.co\/e3aT7oNALm<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 richard (@richard_normal) February 2, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Adding Doncic fits so snugly into the Lakers history of adding generational talents. From Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson to Shaquille O\u2019Neal and Kobe Bryant to LeBron James and Davis, the Lakers always figure out a way get superstars. It\u2019s even more unbelievable that the Lakers were able to pull it off this time without the star even question even pushing his way to LA. <\/p>\n One way or another, the Lakers usually come out on top.<\/p>\n Imagine being a Mavs fan right now. One minute, you have one of the greatest young stars in the NBA, a true face of the franchise who has carried your team to the NBA Finals<\/a> just last year, and gave you a long window of annual title contention just with his mere presence. The next minute, your GM is trying to justify a trade literally everyone thinks is unforgivable for your team.<\/p>\n Looking through social posts from Mavs fans right now is just depressing. They range from pure anger:<\/p>\n Say this somehow works out, say that Nico is proven right. <\/p>\n It’s not that I won’t care, but there’s something that’s been irreparably broken by trading Luka Doncic on a whim for the meager return. I don’t know that I’m in this anymore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Kirk Henderson (@KirkSeriousFace) February 2, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n To sadness:<\/p>\n I am so grateful for Dirk and for the years I had experiencing those teams and those championships. I am so so so heartbroken and I really hope I can love basketball again, but it won\u2019t be Dallas.<\/p>\n \u2014 Caitlin \u2744\ufe0f (@saxetniniltiac) February 2, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n To their biggest supporters openly saying they\u2019re quitting the team:<\/p>\n Nico Harrison is never going to be able to show his face to the fans again. Doncic should have had his jersey retired in Dallas with a statue outside the arena. He should have blessed this fanbase with a sustained 15-year run of contention. He\u2019s that type of talent. Somehow, one rogue executive who thinks he\u2019s smarter than everyone just ended that in one fell swoop.<\/p>\n The Oklahoma City Thunder entered last year\u2019s NBA playoffs<\/a> as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Their playoff run came to an end in the second round at the hands of the Mavericks, with Doncic engineering a six-game series upset with his brilliant mix of scoring and playmaking. <\/p>\n Oklahoma City is even better this year, and now one of their toughest competitors just became an easier playoff matchup. The Mavs are still going to be very good with Anthony Davis in the lineup, but there\u2019s no replacing Luka\u2019s elite offensive creation ability. It will be easier to take Kyrie Irving out of the game without Doncic to worry about, and right now there just isn\u2019t another creator on the roster OKC would fear with the ball in his hands.<\/p>\n Oklahoma City vs. Dallas was set to be a Western Conference bloodbath for the next five years with Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander going head-to-head in their primes. Even if this wasn\u2019t Dallas\u2019 best shot to make a run with Doncic facing a calf injury, the Mavericks should have had a long window of being a thorn in OKC\u2019s side. That window just got shorter and less treacherous for the Thunder after this trade.<\/p>\n The Lakers\u2019 roster had a void at center even with Davis on the roster. With Davis gone, the Lakers\u2019 current starting big man would be Jaxson Hayes, with Trey Jemison as his backup. Fortunately, the Lakers still have a few more days to make a move for a big man, and there are several solid players available.<\/p>\n Expect the Lakers to acquire a center before Thursday\u2019s Feb. 6 trade deadline. LA\u2019s preferred target is probably Myles Turner, but the Indiana Pacers aren\u2019t going to give him up without a good return. Other options for the Lakers could be Nikola Vucevic, Robert Williams III, Clint Capela, and Jonas Valanciunas.<\/p>\n I also wouldn\u2019t be 100 percent convinced that LeBron James will remain a Laker past the deadline. James reportedly wants to stay in Los Angeles<\/a>, and he\u2019s one of two players i the NBA with a no-trade clause. Let\u2019s say the Golden State Warriors<\/a> call and offer James an opportunity to play with Steph Curry. Is LeBron really turning that down now that Doncic is going to run the offense for large portions of the game? The Warriors tried to trade for James last year<\/a>. I still think there\u2019s a decent chance LeBron is a Warrior by the end of the week.<\/p>\n Dallas almost always had a top-10 offense with Luka at the controls. Doncic was able to soak up so much usage with elite productivity that Dallas could count on him to create great scoring looks for himself and his teammates whenever they had the ball. Doncic was also always at his best in the NBA Playoffs. How do you trade a guy like that?<\/p>\n The Mavs offense suddenly has a huge creation void after this trade. Kyrie Irving is excellent, but it\u2019s hard to view him as an elite primary creator at this point in his career. Irving was at his best playing off Doncic\u2019s gravity, but now he\u2019s going to be tasked with creating everything in the halfcourt. This is a huge bummer for the other players on Dallas\u2019 roster, too: Dereck Lively II and Doncic had great chemistry in the pick-and-roll, Doncic helped P.J. Washington play the best offensive basketball of his career, and he was unlocking Klay Thompson this season, too.<\/p>\n The Mavs offense is going to a giant hit even with Davis plugged in to the front court. There\u2019s just no way around it.<\/p>\n Dallas\u2019 defense was solid already this year, ranking No. 12 in the league according to basketball-reference<\/a>. With Davis, the Mavs\u2019 defense better be elite, because they are going to have a much tougher time scoring.<\/p>\n Harrison gave his ridiculous \u201cdefense wins championships\u201d quote<\/a> after trading Doncic, and that\u2019s going to be put to the test. Yes, Dallas\u2019 defense should be awesome with Davis and Lively forming an absurdly long and athletic combination in the front court. Their perimeter defense should improve too just by getting rid of Doncic.<\/p>\n For as blah as Luka is as a defender, he\u2019s still clearly one of the league\u2019s most valuable talents. Dallas\u2019 defense better be top-2 in the league from this point on if they have any hope of justifying this trade (they still don\u2019t).<\/p>\n A small sampling of the posts you see after searching Nico Harrison\u2019s name on social media right now:<\/p>\n After listening to this press conference in full, it kinda feels like Nico Harrison is just an idiot who actually thinks this trade is a good idea & AD will make them better.<\/p>\n Maybe there’s no “deeper story” here, maybe the motivating factor here is just…. stupidity???? https:\/\/t.co\/1LG1BdX7TI<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Betsey (@Betsycashmoney) February 2, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Nico Harrison not being able to stick to a story with why he traded Luka Doncic is the most damning thing to me. Alternating between needing defense, Luka\u2019s availability, and Luka\u2019s free agency depending on the minute. Grasping at some justification and not finding one.<\/p>\n \u2014 Ti Windisch (@TiWindisch) February 2, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n The Mavericks better win an NBA championship with Anthony Davis. Otherwise, Harrison\u2019s reputation is never going to recover from this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWinner: Lakers exceptionalism<\/h3>\n
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Loser: Mavs fans<\/h3>\n
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Winner: Oklahoma City Thunder<\/h3>\n
Winner: Lakers trade rumors this week<\/h3>\n
Loser: Mavs offense<\/h3>\n
Winner: Mavs defense<\/h3>\n
Loser: Nico Harrison\u2019s reputation<\/h3>\n
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