Luka the Laker?

BY GAVIN PATRICK/Sports Editor

It was 11:12 p.m. Saturday night.

I was fresh off covering a Tarleton State men’s basketball game with the sports internship, and I had gone back to my room, showered, and settled down at my computer with an episode of “SNL 50: Beyond Saturday Night” on Peacock. 

I’m a big fan of comedy, too, and I’ve been gearing up for Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary for months. What better way to spend the night after a long evening of basketball coverage.?

My show had just finished, and I was about ready to brush my teeth, turn the lights off and call it a day.

Then, the entire world turned upside down.

The basketball world, that is, because ESPN’s Senior NBA Insider, Shams Charania, in his first year on the job at 30 years of age, had just broken the biggest, most stunning sports news of my lifetime, quite possibly of anyone’s lifetime.

The Dallas Mavericks had parted ways with the face of its city.

Yes, you read that right. The Mavericks had traded Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick. 

The Utah Jazz were also involved as a third team, and they received Jalen Hood-Schifino from the Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2025 second-round pick and the Mavericks’ 2025 second-round pick.

Turns out, basketball doesn’t sleep.

First off, from Charania’s perspective, talk about making a name for yourself. Second, what had gotten into the world that made this dream, or nightmare for Mavericks fans, a reality?

Well, I’ll try to get us there.

It was just as surprising as it seemed.

There was no prior indication from the Mavericks or Lakers that they were looking to move Doncic or Davis before the trade deadline on Feb. 6. The news was so blindsiding that many across social media thought Charania’s account had been hacked. 

However, reporters from both The Los Angeles Times and The Dallas Morning News quickly confirmed the bombshell, and brains exploded accordingly.

Allegedly, Doncic learned of the news like the rest of us -- and was just as shocked. So were many members of both organizations, players and coaches, including Davis and even LeBron James, who learned of the news while he was out at dinner with family. 

For personal context, the group chat of the Tarleton Sports Internship, full of Mavs fans, was blowing up in reaction to the news at the same time the people directly affected by the deal were reacting to it.

As insane as that all sounds, according to Charania, “I can assuredly tell you -- it’s a fact,” as said in his appearance on “SportsCenter” that night.

The Mavericks asked for this.

Unlike how every blockbuster sports trade usually begins, Doncic did not request a trade out of Dallas. The Mavericks were the ones who approached the Lakers about dealing Doncic, and talks began a few days earlier.

All along, the Mavericks had coveted Davis. They knew they needed to get stronger on the defensive end, specifically at the post, and they saw Davis as the perfect fit. According to Charania, if there was ever a player Dallas was going to trade away Doncic for, it was Davis.

The Mavericks also didn’t see Doncic as a franchise pillar for years to come. They had grown tired of his constant conditioning problems, sources told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. 

Doncic’s weight had swelled to the high 260s early this season, and he repeatedly showed an unwillingness to fully commit himself off the court by not, as MacMahon put it, working “year-round” and “around the clock” to prepare his body for an 82 game season. 

That, combined with a lack of discipline in his diet, is what the Mavericks believe to be a major factor in his proneness to injury.

Doncic hasn’t played more than 70 games in a season since his rookie year. This season, he’s been limited to just 22 games because of a sprained right wrist that sat him down for five games in November and a strained left calf he sustained before training camp and re-injured on Christmas Day. 

He hasn’t played since then and had been eyeing a return later this month before the All-Star break. Apparently, the Mavericks had seen enough.

The trade beats the timing of what would have been a “tumultuous summer” for the Mavericks and Doncic, as Mavs general manager Nico Harrison described to The Dallas Morning News. Doncic was in line to receive a supermax, five-year, $345 million contract after the season, but with his injury concerns and perceived inability to evolve off the court, that deal was never going to materialize. 

So, the Mavericks got ahead of the curve and decided to move Doncic now for a player they highly coveted, rather than bear the risk of letting him walk after the season for nothing.

Did Luka deserve this?

Even in a world where blockbuster trades have become routine in the NBA, Luka had seemingly reached untouchable status.

In short, Doncic is one of the five best players in basketball. He made the All-NBA First Team each of the past five seasons; he led the league in scoring a season ago, a year he also led the Mavs to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2011; he came into this season as the co-favorite to win MVP and is currently averaging 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game.

Doncic has also made a tremendous impact on the Dallas community, where he’s made numerous visits to children’s hospitals, gifted hundreds of local students with basketball equipment, donated hand knit hats and blankets to premature newborn children at Cook Children's Medical Center, hosted meet-and-greets, among other acts of generosity and kindness. 

The NBA awarded Doncic the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award last April, before donating $10,000 to his foundation.

All that to say -- Doncic isn’t perfect, either. Despite leading Dallas to the finals last season, Doncic was frequently picked on from the defensive side and was visibly gassed all throughout the series. 

Part of the slack can be attributed to the thoracic contusion and sprained knee he was fighting, but being that banged up late in the season in conjunction with his history perhaps lended to the conditioning concerns. It’s something the Mavericks at least had to consider.

Doncic has never been strong defensively, anyway, and his replacement is. In fact, over the last two seasons, no defender has allowed a higher opponent blow-by rate on drives than Doncic (minimum 50 drives), according to Second Spectrum. 

Harrison believes that “defense wins championships,” as he told MacMahon, and for all the offensive firepower Doncic provides, he wasn’t defending it on the other end. That’s what the Mavs were missing. And frankly, with a finals appearance in the rearview, Harrison and others had to be convinced the team had peaked with Doncic. 

Why move on otherwise?

Once Davis (ironically) comes back from injury, he’ll be able to resume his prowess as one of the league’s premier defenders for Dallas. 

He is also averaging 25.7 points per game, bringing elite post play on both ends of the floor. Combined with Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford, among others, there’s still formidable pieces for a team Harrison envisions winning “now and in the future.”

So to answer the question at the beginning, no, Doncic probably didn’t deserve this, being that a basketball player of his caliber has never been traded midseason since (maybe) Wilt Chamberlain in ‘65. 

But he sure dug himself a hole in the trust he had from the Mavericks’ management by not having his body right on a consistent basis. And he didn’t have the defense to back himself up.

The Lakers won the trade, but by how much?

There’s no disputing how big a deal it is for the Lakers to get their hands on another global superstar as James finishes the latter years of his career. 

It’s a perfect move for the market and the team. However, as already established, the defense could be in for some tough sledding in the short term without Davis.

Morris, who they acquired from Dallas, at least brings some size at 6’ 9,’’ but he obviously isn’t anywhere near Davis’ caliber. He’s 35 years old and has only gone seven games into his 14th season. 

The other big they acquired from Dallas, Kelber, is 33 himself and just underwent surgery to repair a broken foot.

Sure, neither of those players were brought in to replace Davis anyway, and they were lucky to get Doncic at the price they did, but the Lakers still feel a defensive piece or two away from being a serious championship contender. 

Davis even told Charania last month that he thought the Lakers needed to add another big. Now, the team is even thinner at that spot after the trade. But I guess that’s not Davis’ problem anymore.

With Doncic now in the fold, LA’s title odds jumped from 40-1 to 16-1, now the sixth shortest in the league (perhaps a function of impulsive thought). 

Their offensive projection probably jumps just as much as long as Doncic is healthy. But of course, there's a big hole where Davis left defensively. 

It’ll be fascinating to see what Doncic can add to the Lakers and if he has any motivation to change his ways off the court after essentially being given up on by a franchise that seemed destined to keep him forever.

Dallas leaves the deal with a life-sized hole in the city.

This move is bigger than basketball. Doncic was the face of the city. He’s a larger-than-life figure that can’t be replaced for a generation.

Doncic had just given the Mavericks and its fanbase something it hadn’t felt in over a decade -- a chance at an NBA championship. And the last time they were in that spot was when the previous face of Dallas had taken them there; spoiler: Dirk Nowitzki isn’t coming back.

All underlying issues aside, there were Mavericks fans who “felt a part of them die” after hearing the news that Doncic was dealt. They had to fall asleep after that. It’s hard to imagine what the rest of the fanbase felt when they woke up to the news the next morning. Living so close to the situation, I said a prayer for them.

Yes, the team still has talent to contend, and Davis will be a nice addition, but that’s not the point. The Mavericks aren’t recognizable to their fans anymore. It’ll take some time to get used to the team without Doncic, and even more time than usual since everyone was totally unprepared.

It’s hard to find a good comparison for this move, but in NFL terms, this is the closest thing I can think of: it didn’t involve a single player, but on the night of March 28, 1984, the Baltimore Colts  relocated to Indianapolis in a move that was unannounced to their fans, transporting their equipment in a fleet of Mayflower trucks through the dead of night in a blizzard. 

It all stemmed from a business feud about the team’s stadium, but that’s besides the point.

Just like the Doncic situation, most Colts’ fans saw the news when they woke up and were completely flabbergasted. 

Their heart and soul had been taken from them, and even when they got a new team (the Ravens) twelve years later, they never forgave the Colts for what they did.

Now, it’s the Mavericks who have left a scar in their fanbase. They may never be forgiven, either.