Anthony Davis’ dreams of adding another banner to the Crypto.com Arena rafters were unfulfilled after the Lakers traded him away in February.
The Dallas Mavericks made the bold decision of trading Luka Doncic in the winter, actively targeting Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers to be the star they received in return. It wasn’t a hard sell for the Lakers, who were happy to give up Davis, Max Christie, and a pick for Doncic. The deal came together in secret with GMs Nico Harrison and Rob Pelinka, blindsiding all players on both rosters.
Lakers legend Pau Gasol recently revealed on ‘The Knuckleheads Podcast’ that Davis had spoken to him about how to bring another title to the Lakers, confirming that Davis wanted to stay with the franchise.
“I’ve known Nico, Rob, personally for a long time. I was talking to AD when they came and played here with the Warriors, we were gonna get together. He wanted to help the Lakers win another championship. He had extended and obviously he wasn’t thinking he was going anywhere.”
“Then you have someone like Luka, who is a generational talent. A guy who’s put up crazy numbers in the first five-and-a-half years in the NBA. Five All-NBA first Teams, took the team to the Finals last year with Kyrie, and then boom.”
Davis was having a great year for the Lakers, averaging 25.7 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.1 blocks. He had been mostly healthy until suffering an abdominal strain in January, being traded while still on the shelf. He decided to rush back from injury to make his Mavericks debut, which led to him picking up a worse groin strain as he hasn’t played again since.
It’s clear he had no idea this deal was about to take place, with agent Rich Paul confirming the same in later interviews. Many question if LeBron James knew about this deal before it happened, but everyone involved vehemently denies LeBron having any knowledge of the trade.
They were supposed to win another championship together but a variety of factors kept ruining their seasons together. When things seemed to finally be pointed in the right direction, the Lakers decided to move on from Davis for a potentially brighter star while the Mavericks believed in him and his durability just to be let down on day one.
The Mavericks have imploded since acquiring Davis, losing half their roster to injury and being in danger of forfeiting games. The future isn’t looking bright either, with Kyrie Irving expected to miss most of next season recovering from a torn ACL.
Davis is on the verge of an on-court return for the Mavericks, but it’s for a franchise with little winning direction right now or this season. They have a 33-36 record this season, losing nine of their last 10 games as injuries have flatlined their season.
The Lakers are on the opposite end of the spectrum, hoping to compete for the No. 2 seed in the West and for a championship. Luka Doncic had a slow start to life in LA but has averaged 26.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 8.1 assists since joining the team and is hoping to be a Playoff lynchpin for them, similar to what he was for the Mavericks.
While the Mavericks are theoretical contenders when the players are healthy, it’s hard to say when their window begins again with Irving’s debilitating injury. With all these stars being in their early 30s, championship aspirations in Dallas will have to be muted until they figure out a way out of their current crisis.