Derek Jensen
Despite the NFL’s Super Bowl being this Sunday, the NBA has gotten much of the attention early this week. Sunday night around 11:30 p.m. Shams Charania announced on “X” that the Dallas Mavericks would be trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Lakers star Anthony Davis and the young Max Christie.
Doncic, who is just 25, has made the All-NBA team five times in his six seasons. Just last season he led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. While many people are wondering why this trade happened in the first place, I want to focus on the ramifications of this trade across the league.
Doncic was as shocked as everyone else, believing that he would be a Maverick for the rest of his career. He was not told that he would be traded in advance, telling Greg Beacham of the Associated Press “I had to check if it was April 1. I didn’t really believe it.”
Following the Doncic-Davis trade, multiple other trades have transpired that otherwise would be at the forefront of the NBA world. DeAaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings has been sent to San Antonio to be paired with Victor Wembanyama, a trade that is sure to have a great impact on Wembanyamas early career. Former Bulls star Zach Lavine was sent to Sacramento in the same trade. Wednesday the Milwaukee Bucks sent multi-time All Star Khris Middleton to Washington for Kyle Kuzma who is a three-time all-star as well. Rounding out the big names is Jimmy Butler joining the Golden State Warriors after requesting a trade out of Miami.
The Doncic-Davis trade has turned the NBA into a league where no player is completely safe from being traded. If two players in the MVP race can be traded without their prior knowledge, that means that anyone can be. This insecurity of a job is the biggest issue, in my opinion, of these trades. Realtor.com reports that Doncic had just bought a $15 Million House in Dallas just days before his trade to the Lakers. On top of this Doncic had openly believed that he was the future of the team, being told that he was since the day he was drafted. His being traded without his knowledge sets a precedent for other general managers to do deals under the noses of the players.
With the trade deadline having passed on the 6th of February, that week had around 20 trades involving players being sent to a new city. Many of those names were major figures for the team, which is the most shocking part of this year’s trade deadline.
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