Five months later, the Luka Doncic trade between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers remains the talk of the NBA. People can't believe the Mavericks gave up on a 25-year-old superstar after a run to the NBA Finals, getting what felt like pennies on the dollar back in value.
The fanbase felt betrayed by the transaction, and it didn't help that the front office bashed Doncic at nearly every opportunity through the media. The deal felt like a personal vendetta, and the team didn't care about the fans, which is a dangerous game to play. Even some acknowledgement of the fans' feelings from the team would've been great.
Keith Smith from Spotrac spoke to executives and coaches around the NBA while at the Summer League in Las Vegas last week, and he received an interesting quote from a Mavericks executive about the deal.
"Whenever you trade a truly great player, it’s going to hurt. We love AD [Anthony Davis], and we feel like we’re in a good position to have a great team moving forward. With better health this year, we’ll be near the top of the conference going into the playoffs. That’s the goal,” the executive told Smith.
The Mavericks didn't have great injury luck before the trade, but it got even worse after. Anthony Davis was rushed back and re-injured his adductor in his first game back, Daniel Gafford sprained his MCL, Kyrie Irving tore his ACL, Dereck Lively II was dealing with a stress fracture in his foot, and Dante Exum broke his hand. Irving will be out until the calendar turns to 2026, at least, but they believe he can still lead them on a postseason run.
