According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the Los Angeles Lakers grew “frustrated” with LeBron James and Anthony Davis complaining about upgrading the roster.
It grew when the two stars began publicly airing their concerns and frustrations. LeBron always believed they were a move or two away from legit contention, while Davis wanted to go back to playing power forward once they acquired a center.
The organization took it into its hands to solve the complaints by trading Davis to get Luka Doncic.
Los Angeles felt that Davis, who is 31 years old, wasn’t a “1-A” talent and couldn’t be trusted due to his durability and availability issues.
Marc Stein reports that the Dallas Mavericks were only interested in Davis, not LeBron James. Dallas came to Los Angeles with the deal, as general manager Nico Harrison has strong ties to Davis due to their relationship at Nike.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Dallas Mavericks have made the shocking move to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. This is not a parody, as many thought when the news broke.
ESPN and other news sources have confirmed this, as Dallas initiated and sought out this deal with Los Angeles.
A Summary of the entire trade:
Lakers: Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris
Mavericks: Anthony Davis, Max Christie, 2029 first-round pick
Jazz: Jalen Hood-Schifino, two second-round picks
This blockbuster trade was a surprise, with it being very tight-lipped to the point where Doncic, LeBron, and Davis did not know this was happening. Davis feels “betrayed,” while Doncic remains “stunned.”
Dallas came to Los Angeles with this trade proposal, which soon got sorted through and accepted by both parties. Utah was the facilitating team to complete the transaction.
The Mavericks thought they would be in a better win-now position for a championship by acquiring the defensive stud. They felt as though the 25-year-old wouldn’t have committed to the Supermax contract worth up to $350 million. Plus, the organization saw his weight and conditioning as a problem.
For the Lakers, this is the perfect trade for them. First of all, they didn’t have to give up much to receive the generational player. Second of all, Los Angeles wanted Doncic to be the face of the franchise after LeBron retired from the game of basketball.
Mavericks’ General Manager Nico Harrison said he traded Doncic because “I believe that defense wins championships.”
“I believe that defense wins championships,” Mavs general manager Nico Harrison told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, “I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We’re built to win now and in the future.”
Per Marc Stein’s report, Doncic is targeting February 8th as his official return date from his calf injury. It would be two days after the trade deadline.
Due to the injuries, dieting decisions, and conditioning problems, this “motivated” the Mavericks to trade him as quickly as humanly possible.
With Doncic set to join the Lakers, he will no longer be eligible for the Supermax contract.
February 25th is the next time the Lakers and Mavericks are scheduled to face each other.
According to reports headlined by the Los Angeles Lakers, Anthony Davis suffered a left ankle sprain during their victory against the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day.
Davis only played seven minutes in the game after rolling his ankle in the first quarter. When the 31-year-old went to the locker room, he never returned.
This was a non-contact injury while in the paint trying to grab a rebound; Davis immediately grabbed his ankle and walked off into the locker room.
The good news is that he could walk off under his power; Davis did not need assistance.
Los Angeles lists him as “day-to-day” with no clear timeline for his return.
Their next game is this Saturday, December 28th, against the Sacramento Kings. It is a home game.
The injuries continue to pile up for the Los Angeles Lakers big man, as on top of dealing with plantar fasciitis, Anthony Davis is now dealing with a left eye injury.
During Sunday’s game against the Toronto Raptors, the world saw Davis block Jakob Poeltl. However, Davis immediately crashed to the floor in pain after taking a shot to the eye.
According to JJ Redick, the hit was so bad, it caused temporary vision loss. This was the main reason why the 31-year-old did not return to the game during the fourth quarter.
In addition to that problem, Davis can’t keep his eye open all the time due to swelling. Because of this, Los Angeles is sending him to an ophthalmologist Monday.
On Wednesday, the Lakers go against the Memphis Grizzlies. It is unclear whether Davis will be cleared to play or not.
