The Dallas Mavericks shook up the NBA world a couple of weeks ago prior to the trade deadline by sending 25-year-old superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis and Max Christie in a trade nobody saw coming and everybody is still trying to make sense of.
Fans around the world have an opinion on this move, which includes those within the league itself as the Utah Jazz general manager recently shared his thoughts about the move during his team’s game against the Lakers earlier in the week.
During the Jazz broadcast on Wednesday, team general manager Justin Zanik said he didn’t want to speak for the rest of his colleagues around the league, but he thinks they all agree with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka in seeing the Doncic trade to the Lakers as a “gift.”
Utah Jazz GM Justin Zanik discussed the Luka Dončić trade, saying that while he didn’t want to speak for his front office colleagues, they agreed with Los Angeles Lakers GM Rob Pelinka that it was a “gift.” pic.twitter.com/uc9POqqKQG
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) February 13, 2025
As good as Anthony Davis is, there is zero precedent for a player of Luka’s caliber being traded at his age, especially coming fresh off his first NBA Finals appearance.
Doncic has been eased into the team after missing over a month with a calf injury and has averaged 15 points per game in 23.5 minutes per game of playing time over his two games in LA so far.
Dallas’ front office and ownership team have dogged Doncic on the way out to attempt to save face and get the fans back on their side, which has only made matters worse.
Two weeks isn’t nearly enough time to come to terms with this deal, and fans might never be able to make sense of it unless the Mavericks shock the world and achieve an incredible amount of success over the next year or two.
