It is obvious that the Lakers are looking at the future while the Mavs are looking at the hear and now. I think that the big question is how L. James is going to take the news.
I wouldn’t give up a player who’s 7 feet tall, a defensive player of the year candidate, and a capable outside shooter for anything. Not even for someone like Luka.
After watching Zion blow up the lakers with pure violence and a midget like Brunson score 39 points with only one 3-pointer, I still feel this way.
Superstar centers have won the last 6 MVPs. It was really noticeable how rare they are when the Olympic team was building its roster last summer.
I can understand why getting Luka is a spectacular business decision. The Lakers are “must-see” TV now.
But it’s still painful to give up a player from the limited stock of generational centers. Giannis, Zion, Embiid, and Jokic all need answers in a championship contender’s roster. Anthony Davis was as good as any of them.
Obviously, Lakers.
First, Anthony “Street clothes” Davis never plays and got injured pretty much getting off the jet in Dallas, second even when healthy, Luka is a million times better.
Mavericks fans are hating life right now, and for good reason. Their GM should be sent to Gitmo for crimes against humanity.
The Lakers did.
Let’s be honest. This was about replacing LeBron James.
He’s 40 now, and doesn’t have many (if any) years left in his career.
Luka allows them to rebuild on the fly. Even if it cost them a big man in the process.
These are the stats for Giannis, Jokic, and Embiid during their MVP seasons:
And Anthony Davis for those 6 seasons:
Anthony Davis has been competitive with those three every year, with less usage.
If the Mavericks asked Milwaukee, Denver, or Philadelphia for those players, in those years, plus assets, nobody would’ve entertained trading all that for Luka.
I think Anthony Davis is getting heavily underrated by the commentary around this trade. Luka is great, and he was a fan-favorite in Dallas, but he’s being overrated in comparison.
The problem with your logic is this:
LeBron James is 40 years old. He’s so old, Kevin Hart is making jokes about him.
How long do you expect him to last? And at his age, can you expect him to be as effective in the playoffs as he is even now?
So, they had to take the one piece that anyone might actually want and deal him to replace James. It looks bad now, but they can sign free agents to compliment Luka in the offseason. And who would not want to play with that guy?
It’s about building a new core. Luka is the first piece of that new core, and they ain’t done yet. Just watch.
And here are Luka’s stats for those seasons.
Also, let’s keep in mind that he’s much younger and much less injury prone.
Totals and Averages
Luka Doncic: 400 games played out of 460 possible (82 games x 4 seasons + 75 + 72), or ~87% of possible games.
Anthony Davis: 326 games played out of 460 possible, or ~71% of possible games.
Average games per season: Luka ~66.7, Davis ~54.3.
Analysis
On the surface, Luka’s higher games-played total (400 vs. 326) and percentage (87% vs. 71%) suggest he’s been more available than Davis over these six seasons. Luka’s lowest season (61 games in 2019-20) still exceeds Davis’s average, while Davis has had multiple seasons below 50 games (2018-19, 2021-22, 2020-21). This gap supports a narrative that Luka is less injury-prone.
He’s also a much bigger ■■■■■■ and the NBA’s biggest whiner. I’m guessing most of his teammates weren’t sad to see him go.
