By Julian MacKool, Sports Department Member
The Dallas Mavericks just made one of the biggest trades in NBA history. They sent five-time all-star, five-time all-NBA first team, 24-year-old superstar guard Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for 32-year-old, ten-time all-star and four-time all-NBA first-team forward and center Anthony Davis, role-player Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick. We have never seen a player of Dončić’s caliber traded before, especially a player who is just 25 years old.
No one knew that Luka would be traded, not even Luka himself. Once the trade was made, Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison stated how trading Dončić for Davis positions the team into a ‘win-now mode’.
That doesn’t make sense. Less than a year ago, Luka led the team to the NBA Finals but lost to the Boston Celtics in five games. Another reason Harrison said the trade was made was that he believed in a “defense-wins-championships” mentality.
It is a fair point to say that, yes. Davis is a three-time defensive first team and was top three in defensive player of the year voting last season with potential to win the award this year.
However, trading away your best player, which the current team was constructed for, is irrational.
However, I believe the biggest reason this trade was made was this summer, Luka qualified for the supermax contract, which are NBA players who qualify for the Designated Veteran Player Extension and can sign some of the highest-paid contracts in NBA history. Harrison didn’t believe that Luka was worth the supermax due to his injury history and not being in shape for the start of seasons.
The Dallas Mavericks made a trade that affects not only their success now, but their future too. With Luka being only 24 years old and wanting to stay in Dallas for the rest of his career, he most likely would have been in Dallas for another 10 to 15 years. Luka was replaced with 31-year-old Anthony Davis, who is a great player, but has an injury history and plays maybe another five years of great basketball. General Manager Nico Harrison hopes for a championship soon. If not, this can be considered one of the worst trades in professional sports history.
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