Shock. Disbelief. Confusion. Those were some of the emotions circulating across the NBA and sports world when news broke late Saturday night that the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis.
It’s the first time in league history two current All-NBA players were traded for each other midseason. Just when we thought we’d seen it all in this league, the Mavericks were done with the face of their franchise — a 25-year-old generational perennial MVP candidate — at the peak of his powers.
On the latest episode of “NBA Daily,” Dave DuFour, Es Baraheni and Zena Keita tried to wrap their heads around a blockbuster weekend and what it says about the state of player trading.
Editor’s note: A partial transcript has been edited for clarity and length. The full episode is available on YouTube below or in the “NBA Daily” podcast feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
DuFour: It may be the worst trade in any sport … ever? It’s that weird. It was so left field to me that I thought it must have been fake. And as we all know, it’s not fake at all! The trade itself is weird, and the basketball part of it is separate from why it’s weird. Year-seven Luka Dončić … when he’s eligible for a five-year supermax (contract) extension that he wants to sign. It’s a break from the norms of the established basketball operations of the NBA to trade that guy when he hasn’t demanded a trade or done something that has caused him to disparage the team or something negative outwardly. So, unless there’s something we don’t know, which of course I can’t know, this is completely left field.
Keita: I feel like there was a baby version of that happening this offseason with Karl-Anthony Towns being traded not having caused any issues and having been in the playoffs on a (contending) team. And then you have (this) — the next level.
DuFour: So, Karl-Anthony Town gets moved and we all say, “Well that’s the new CBA. Teams are trying to duck the tax.” And we’ve watched the way the Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat saga has played out since the denial of the contract extension this season. I would say if the Karl-Anthony Towns trade and Jimmy Butler were cracks in the foundation of the player empowerment era, the Luka Dončić trade might have been a bulldozer.
This was a team saying no to an MVP-level generational talent, which is different than just generational talent. This is not De’Aaron Fox we’re talking about. This is Luka Dončić. He’s probably going to go down as one of the best to ever play in the NBA. We know the numbers; we know the five-time All-NBA, we know the five-time All-Star, we know everything about this guy. He just went to the finals last year. This is a sea change in NBA management where the Mavericks have just said, “No, we’re not going to tolerate the way you do business anymore.” I think for the player empowerment era, we’re going to look back in a couple of years and say, “Wow, they really told Luka, ‘No.’” And now, teams have learned they can tell guys, “No.”
Baraheni: It’s such a crazy stress test for that supermax because I think the concept was, hey, the supermax is going to keep these guys in the market. They will stay with the respective teams that drafted them, especially when they become that caliber of player, a five-time First Team All-NBA member. That’s a guy who you can gladly give the supermax to. And yet, the Mavericks were hesitant to do so, which is very curious and bizarre. To your point, it seems like player empowerment has been shattered, and we might be entering a new era. It’s just wild that it’s happening to a player who is a perennial MVP candidate.
Keita: Dave what you’re stating about this player empowerment is huge. The thing that I think was indicative of what could be the bar or the marker moving forward for management is the way Nico Harrison used the word “tumultuous” (when) he said, basically paraphrasing, he wanted to avoid a tumultuous summer. I look at the situation in Miami (with Jimmy Butler) … I think that’s tumultuous. There’s no way we could have seen anything in Dallas as “tumultuous” other than this money aspect. Now, as you mentioned Es, the stress test, this aspect of money being tumultuous … all of the players are on notice. Paying you (the players) is now considered “tumultuous.”
Baraheni: Even in this Fox situation, it is the Kings trying to get ahead of it preemptively and understanding this is a guy who’s not going to sign a contract extension with us.
DuFour: But he asked out, too. This is where I do feel the Luka thing is so unique. He didn’t ask out that we know of. There were no rumblings he was unhappy there. He’s an MVP-level player; they made the finals last year. I’ve been in shock. I don’t have a take necessarily on the trade, because it’s irrational, illogical and just doesn’t make sense. If it was a video game and I showed it to you, you’d say, “Man, you’re just cheating.”
Baraheni: It doesn’t even work in (NBA) 2K.
You can listen to full episodes of NBA Daily for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and watch on YouTube.
(Photo: Vaughn Ridley / NBAE via Getty Images)
