The NBA landscape has been irrevocably altered by a seismic trade that sent Luka Dončić, widely considered one of the three best basketball players on the planet alongside Nikola Jokić and Giannis Antetokounmpo, from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers. This unprecedented move, which involved a three-team trade with the Utah Jazz, has sent shockwaves throughout the league.
The Mavericks, in a move that will undoubtedly be dissected and debated for years to come, have seemingly relinquished their franchise cornerstone.
The Dallas Mavericks Allowed The Los Angeles Lakers To Steal Luka Doncic. But Why?

The biggest question on everyone’s mind is why the Mavericks would agree to such a lopsided trade.
NBA Insider Marc Stein shares what he has heard from his sources;
“Sources familiar with the Mavericks’ thinking said in the aftermath of the late Saturday/early Sunday trade thunderbolt that trepidation about signing Dončić to that sort of contract had actually begun building quietly in recent months due to rising concerns about Doncic’s conditioning, his ability to stay healthy and his off-court commitment to those pursuits.”
In addition to he lack of commitment to conditioning, according to Stein, the Mavericks saw Doncic’s calf injury as a bigger problem;
“The calf strain Dončić sustained on Christmas Day ranks as the most serious injury of his NBA career and has sidelined him for the past 19 games. Sources tell The Stein Line that Doncic had been targeting a Feb. 8 return to the Mavericks’ lineup, but the severity of this setback — on top of longstanding concerns about how Dončić manages his weight and diet — appears to have set off alarm bells organizationally.
A left calf contusion, after he took an inadvertent kick in the leg from a teammate during a late September pickup game, cost him all of training camp this season — after a calf injury sustained in Spain also sidelined Dončić for the overwhelming majority of training camp last season. He likewise missed the first three playoff games of Dallas’ surprising run to the Western Conference finals in 2022 in [Jason] Kidd’s first season as Dallas’ coach because of a calf injury.”

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In Stein’s assessment, the Lakers are content with the bet they have made on Luka Doncic. At the same time, there are plenty of legitimate concerns with the 26-year-old, the future the Lakers had with Davis and Lebron James is absolutely finite. While Doncic’s addition opens the future to countless possibilities.
“It is undeniably true that the Mavericks, as an organization, know more about daily life with Dončić than anyone,” Stein writes. “Which, theoretically, should give the Lakers some pause that the Mavericks — just when Dončić was nearing his return from an injury that has derailed Dallas’ season — called them up to pitch this trade. Once again, however, it’s a risk you suspect they will happily live with.”