The Los Angeles Lakers shocked the basketball world when they traded for Luka Doncic a few weeks ago. He made his debut in a Lakers uniform just before the All-Star break in front of a very excited home crowd.
Much of this trade is still being dissected. While blockbuster trades happen seemingly every year in the NBA, it is rare for a Superstar to get traded, especially one who was going to get a Super Max contract this summer.
Christian Clark, Mike Vorkunov, and Fred Katz of The Athletic just recently wrote a very in-depth feature on Dallas Maverick general manager Nico Harrison. In the feature, they report that the Mavs were “never going to offer” Doncic a super-max contract.
Dallas Mavericks Were Never Going To Offer Luka Doncic Super-Max
There have been other reports since the trade saying that the Mavs were concerned about Doncic’s injury history, work ethic, and weight which led them to the decision to deal him.
Even more interesting is the fact that they dealt him for a player in Anthony Davis with an even more checkered injury history.
Per The Athletic feature:
“Dallas might have worried about Doncic’s body, but until a recent calf ailment, he had never missed significant time because of injury. This will be his first season playing fewer than 60 games. (On the other side, Davis is six years his elder and has failed to compete in 60 games during four of the previous six seasons.”
Regardless of this sentiment, concern in the building continued to grow that Luka Doncic’s body would “break down possibly sooner than anyone would expect.”
Davis was injured during his first game with the Mavericks and is expected to miss a good amount of time.
Luka Doncic has been on five consecutive All-NBA teams and finished 3rd in MVP voting last season. Since being traded to the Lakers, Doncic will not be eligible for a super-max contract this summer, but it is safe to say that Los Angeles will make him the face of their franchise.