Rolling Thoughts on the SHOCKING! Luka Doncic/Anthony Davis trade.

02 Feb, 2025

I woke up today and checked my phone

Andrew (best friend from college): "Luka a Laker WTF"

I thought he got fooled by one of those fake parody NBA twitter accounts again, like NBA_Centel. No way that could be real.

Then I searched my feed and WOW--this is, without exaggeration, the most shocking mega-trade in the life of my sports fandom, of all four major American sports. I was going to say my lifetime, but only the Gretzky trade is truly bigger than this.

I just can't even write anything but bullet point reactions so here goes:

• First of all, I can't believe Anthony Davis is gone. We all loved AD. He was the ultimate pro and someone who truly loved the Laker uniform. He wanted to be here and brought us a championship in 2020. I'll never forget his buzzer beater against the Nuggets. I'll never forget his defense against Curry in the Conference Semi-Finals. He was the ultimate modern defender who never got his proper accolades. I'll be rooting for him forever and will tearful when he gets his number retired here.
• That being said... you have to sacrifice a beloved player when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this happens. Luka Doncic is... 1) a top-4 NBA player, 2) a franchise cornerstone at the age of 25, 3) a winner, and 4) one of the best archetypes in the NBA to build around, a large point forward who run the entire game at his finger tips. I don't understand why the Mav's gave him up.
• Let's talk about the Mavericks side of this. I think Nico Harrison and/or the Adelson ownership just became the most hated figures in the DFW region, somehow surpassing even Jerry Jones. It astounds me when experienced professional executives like these can make such low EQ moves, where the immediate result is that their entire fanbase will burn effigies of them until the end of time. Why would you want your entire life upended like this? To achieve what--at best, what you think (and nobody actually thinks this), would be a marginal short-term basketball upgrade? HUH?
• I truly feel terrible for Mavericks fan. The NBA is the most star-driven league in North America, fans of the NBA more than any other league get attached to individuals more than teams. To lose the face of your franchise for what is perceived as a 'raw deal'--I don't blame anyone for rage quitting after that. This feels harmful to the league. As a Laker fan, I don't even feel like I can be too happy about this... (probably up until I see him play in a Lakers uniform, then I'll be in love). It's just kinda wrong to see other passionate basketball fans that devastated.
• The Cuban-owned Mavericks seemingly had a brand. We love our guy (before Luka in the 2000's, it was Dirk Nowitzki) and we're gonna build him up as the face of the franchise, win or lose, that's our thing. One championship with OUR GUY is worth more than two with a mercenary free agent. Luka was that guy!!! If not him, it's no one. You just burned so much goodwill and positive branding with this move. What big name free agent would ever want to sign there?
• One angle that everyone is talking about--there must be something we don't know. It can't just be that Luka is fat or injured or disgruntled and they're balking at his potential supermax extension. He must be a serial killer or there's some huge conspiracy--the league wants the Lakers to stay relevant post-LeBron or that Trump wants to sabotage the Mavericks (remember that the current controlling owners, the Adelsons, are his major ally) to spite Mark Cuban. I NEVER peddle or believe in conspiracies but let's just say this... this trade honestly puts me in a position where, if I heard someone offer a conspiracy, I couldn't exactly talk them out of it...
• The PR being backchanneled about why the Mavericks soured on Luka is that he's out of condition at 270 pounds and eats too many burgers. Ryen Russillo had a good line--even if he were 370 pounds, I'd still say yes in a heartbeat.
• David Aldridge is calling this an "Oh Shit" moment. It's almost impossible to get any news that comes out-of-nowhere. Every time a major move happens, there are backchannels to the beat reporters and major media outlets. This star is unhappy and wants out. This other guy wants a new contract and his team is shopping him. This trade came with zero warning whatsoever.
• I think Nico Harrison was so hell bent on pushing through a deal that he just stopped caring about negiotiation. He knew that if this leaked, the backlash would be so strong he couldn't go back. Why did he feel so pressued to make this move, I don't know honestly.
• If you had asked me about Nico Harrison a day ago, I would've thought him as a top-10 GM. He's hit on big trades (Kyrie, PJ Washington, Gafford) and he's hit on draft picks (Dereck Lively). The Mavs with Luka missed the playoffs and re-tooled them into a finals appearance! He's clearly not a moron from his body of work.
• From a value standpoint--people are pissed. Luka went for less than players like Rudy Gobert and Mikal Bridges--both top-30ish guys who fetched 5 first round picks. They should have let the highest bidder win. Even if the Lakers were the ONLY negotiation partner in the room--surely, they could have squeezed out more picks or good young players like Austin Reeves and Dalton Knect. This adds this general fervor that this trade absolutely makes zero sense and thus why you can't even refute anyone's conspiracy theories
• People on social media are really shitting on AD and marginalizing how good he is just to exaggerate the trade's lopsidedness and it's completely unfair. The reason this trade is so lopsided has to due with the age gap (25 vs. 32), not the talent gap (which is the difference between the #3 player in the league versus the #10 player in the league, roughly). Anthony Davis is a Hall of Fame center playing at a top-10 All-NBA level. His total impact on the game is only one notch below a ball-dominant forward like Doncic. The net impact on the current 2025 Mavericks will not be as lopsided as people think, assuming they both play the same amount of games. I really will miss him.
• He's going to be a footnote to this trade but let's talk about Max Christie. I haven't watched a ton of him prior to this season (I'm watching less regular season sports in general and west coast home games are basically eliminated for me) and I never understood the Lakers twitter hype about him until just last night when I saw him play a fantastic game against the Knicks. He could shoot, put the ball on the floor against closeouts, make good decisions, and defend. A guy like that at 21 ends up being an elite role player in his prime. He's really solid.
• The biggest reason I don't like conspiracy theories is because I believe simpler answers are more likely. In this case, the simple answer is that the GM Nico Harrison is an idiot. Even though I thought he made some good moves before, that might be attributable to Dennis Lindsey--maybe the real mind behind the man? He left for the Pistons (who have been a miracle turnaround this season, kudos to them). And the snippets I've seen from his press conference and how he dissected the origins of trade discussions with Rob Pelinka... all signs point to him just being a idiot of world-historical proportions.
• Like this dude seriously must think he's a basketball genius. I sort of understand his vision (even if I don't agree) to try to create a defensive-minded team with AD at the 4, supported by Gafford/Lively at the 5, but to barely negotiate and extract so little value is absolutely insane.
• This video is hilarious. Two Laker fans on a podcast reacting to the trade in real-time. It takes them 7 minutes to realize it's actually real.
• I don't think we're a contender right now because we have zero legitimate bigs. Jaxson Hayes isn't even a good backup. Are they going to punt this season and stand pat, or will they try to draft heavy draft capital for a young defensive center like Myles Turner or Walker Kessler? A Reaves/Dodo/Luka/LeBron/Kessler starting 5 sounds like a playoff nightmare to me.
• Trade deadline: We got Mark Williams! Seems like a great pickup--a young rim running center with some touch. I might have to watch every single Lakers game until the season's over right now.

This thread will keep updating.