First TD Bets — Wild Card Monday Slate
Alex Christenson
Whether you were still awake when the news broke or thought you still may have been dreaming when you woke up, Luka Doncic has, in fact, been traded for Anthony Davis It’s safe to say we all had a similar collective reaction. What. The. F***. Just. Happened.
Let’s pour a cup of coffee and discuss.
I’ll begin with my conclusion before we get into the nitty gritty. This is the most shocking NBA trade ever and could go down as one of the worst in the history of North American professional sports. If you were refreshing your social feed in the few minutes between Shams Charania reporting the trade and the “Yes, this is real” follow-up, then you saw the flood of “hacked” posts. I was right there with everyone; it is just plain unbelievable at first glance.
From a Dallas perspective, there are multiple things I just do not understand at this early juncture. All of the reporting from the Mavs’ side of things is pointing to Luka’s inability to stay in shape and his impending eligibility for a supermax contract extension as the two main factors in the decision.
Is Luka the most fit player on the court? Certainly not. But if a 25-year-old Doncic can have the resume he’s built already while being “fat,” then I’m not sure what the rush is to ditch the Slovenian wunderkind. He is quite clearly the second-best player in Mavericks franchise history and was on his way to supplant Dirk Nowitzki as the best player to ever don a Dallas jersey. At just 25 years old, Doncic has won Rookie of the Year, is a five-time NBA All-Star (six if you count this season’s nod), has made the All-NBA first team five times and led the Mavericks to two Western Conference finals appearances in the last three years, advancing to the NBA Finals just eight months ago before losing to the eventual champion Boston Celtics. So, what in the world is Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison doing?
And for so cheap! Why did the Mavericks not make it known that he was available? Surely more than half of the league would be submitting giant bids for Doncic. For instance, from my own fandom perspective, I find it hard to believe that the Spurs, who are rumored to be working on a deal for De’Aaron Fox, wouldn’t have at least had a meeting to discuss unloading the clip to acquire Doncic from their in-state rivals. Pairing 25-year-old Doncic with 21-year-old Wemby? They’d at least talk about it!
The reporting since the trade was announced indicates that other front offices were not aware Doncic was available. Zach Lowe broke his silence on vacation to chime in with reactions from sources around the league, and Marc Stein reported just before I submitted this article that Dallas and Los Angeles first began discussing the deal nearly a month ago.
From a basketball perspective, I don’t think this hurts Dallas all that much in the short term. Luka has been out since Christmas and isn’t currently playing. But neither is Anthony Davis, although he is nearing a return from an abdominal injury. If Davis can get healthy and stay healthy, this is a team that can win a playoff round. Hell, maybe even two. But to lose Doncic, a player who can win a series essentially by himself, is just a straight up kneecapping of the future outlook of this team, and that’s where I’m left scratching my head. Davis is six years his senior. Kyrie Irving is no spring chicken and will be 33 before the playoffs begin.
We haven’t even talked about the picks (or lack thereof) involved in this deal! Only one first-round pick for Luka freakin’ Doncic? To make matters worse, the pick that the Mavs recouped in the trade is a 2029 pick from the Lakers, who should be pretty darn good with a then 29-year-old Doncic at the helm. I just do not get it. Reports about Dallas being concerned about signing Doncic to a supermax contract, which would have been in the neighborhood of $350 million over five years, also don’t make any sense to me. It’s never a good sign when you have an ownership change and their first major move is to balk at extending a player of Doncic’s caliber!
As Ryen Russillo said on the Bill Simmons Podcast late last night: “He could have been smoking cigarettes bringing the ball up the f***in court and I’d still be like when can we sign you to the supermax?”
I wholeheartedly agree.
There is no way for me to twist this deal into something I like for the Mavericks. But maybe more will come out in the next few days to give us previously unknown information about what fueled this shocking move.
From the Lakers’ side of things, you have to love it. That roster was not a true finals contender, didn’t have the assets to make a win-now type of trade to get them there, and the end is in sight for LeBron James. To flip Davis for Doncic is the kind of move that has fans of the 29 other teams pulling their hair out today. This club just continues to find ways to bring in superstar after superstar that they didn’t draft.
Los Angeles now has a new face of its franchise. They won’t win a title this season, but adding Doncic resets their timeline. As someone who dislikes the Lakers from a fandom perspective, this is devastating. With LeBron reportedly not aware of the deal until it was done, I know I’m not the only person wondering if he’ll work his way out of a Lakers uniform by Thursday’s trade deadline.
Before we finish our coffee and head off to our regularly scheduled Sunday, shoutout to Danny Ainge for getting in there for a couple of second-round picks (how did Utah end up with more picks in this trade than Dallas?). This is unlikely to be the final move made by the Jazz as they turn the tank up to another level. Now we wait for the late March and early April DFS slates with Jalen Hood-Schifino as a top play. You know it’s coming!
