So the Lakers got Luka for Anthony Davis?!

Wtf

BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Three-team deal that includes Utah.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025

Damn.

That seems to be the case. Luka to the Lakers it seems.

There must have been friction in the friendship.

Put this in another thread but yeah, this shiz is rigged:

"NBA ratings are down and suddenly Luka gets traded to LA for only AD....because the league isn't rigged. I promise."

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

Put this in another thread but yeah, this shiz is rigged:

"NBA ratings are down and suddenly Luka gets traded to LA for only AD....because the league isn't rigged. I promise."

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Totally not rigged. Go Chiefs...

League is in complete shambles. It’s all fake.

I don't think the league is rigged. As a Lakers fan I find it odd, but the Lakers weren't going to extend AD after this season. The Mavs also contacted two other teams before the Lakers. Luka also weighs 270 Lbs, conditioning is an issue, the same way that it is with Zion.

AD averages more games per season than Luka, and plays on both sides of the ball. So I wasn't sure how to process this trade. I'm now of the mind that it's just a good move for both parties.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

I don't think the league is rigged. As a Lakers fan I find it odd, but the Lakers weren't going to extend AD after this season. The Mavs also contacted two other teams before the Lakers. Luka also weighs 270 Lbs, conditioning is an issue, the same way that it is with Zion.

AD averages more games per season than Luka, and plays on both sides of the ball. So I wasn't sure how to process this trade. I'm now of the mind that it's just a good move for both parties.

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Good try. I think most NBA experts and fans would agree that if the Mavs were to truly open the bidding for Luka up to the entire NBA, they could get a MUCH better return than an oft-injured, 32 year old that has shown time and again he’s incapable of being the go to guy.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

I don't think the league is rigged. As a Lakers fan I find it odd, but the Lakers weren't going to extend AD after this season. The Mavs also contacted two other teams before the Lakers. Luka also weighs 270 Lbs, conditioning is an issue, the same way that it is with Zion.

AD averages more games per season than Luka, and plays on both sides of the ball. So I wasn't sure how to process this trade. I'm now of the mind that it's just a good move for both parties.

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Classic Lakers propaganda after they fleece every other farm team in the league. Pretending like the NBA isn’t rigged to benefit the Lakers and Celtics…

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

Classic Lakers propaganda after they fleece every other farm team in the league. Pretending like the NBA isn’t rigged to benefit the Lakers and Celtics…

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Maybe try not to be emotional.. and work with facts. Mavs called the Lakers with the offer. They also called two other teams prior. I don't do propaganda, nor do I engage in irrational takes.

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Originally Posted by pr1840

Good try. I think most NBA experts and fans would agree that if the Mavs were to truly open the bidding for Luka up to the entire NBA, they could get a MUCH better return than an oft-injured, 32 year old that has shown time and again he’s incapable of being the go to guy.

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There is no good try.. If you don't agree then that's what it is. No one is trying anything. Try not to be so bitter. Mavs were turned down by another team prior to the Lakers. Also, you're not going to get a better big than AD for Luka.

I believe it's rigged. The Lakers must be the big market for the NBA. With an aging LeBron this makes sense. This tells me this is LeBron last year.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Maybe try not to be emotional.. and work with facts. Mavs called the Lakers with the offer. They also called two other teams prior. I don't do propaganda, nor do I engage in irrational takes.

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It is not emotion. It’s logic. Absolutely no way that a nearly 32 year old off injured (“street clothes”) complimentary star player is anywhere near the value of a 25 yo MVP level superstar coming off his first finals appearance. Only a Lakers fan or big market media mouth promoting NBA propaganda would say the trade is anywhere close to fair. Also AD has missed more games per season on average than Luka over the span of Luka’s career. And in regards to Luka’s “fitness,” I think he and Jokic are doing pretty well for being “out of shape.” You don’t have to look like a Greek god to be a great athlete. Otherwise, all these bodybuilders should be making millions in the NFL.

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

It is not emotion. It’s logic. Absolutely no way that a nearly 32 year old off injured (“street clothes”) complimentary star player is anywhere near the value of a 25 yo MVP level superstar coming off his first finals appearance. Only a Lakers fan or big market media mouth promoting NBA propaganda would say the trade is anywhere close to fair. Also AD has missed more games per season on average than Luka over the span of Luka’s career.

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A bit of a strawman. No one is saying it's an even swap. It certainly isn't lopsided. You also tried to be slick by referring to Luka's availability over the course of his career. Bottomline is over the course of the last few seasons AD has played more games.

Also, tell me how this conspiracy worked. Did the league officials collude with the Mavs, and Lakers? If so, why did the Mavs go to two other teams first? Also tell me what other star/all NBA player would a team give up for Luka? You're not getting Giannis, Tatum, Joker, or SGA.

Id also like to remind some of you that Shaq was in a similar situation with the Lakers. No discipline during the off-season, out of shape, and over weight. They didn't want to pay him. He got traded for players that didn't amount to his actual value. In most cases you don't get all NBA players the caliber of AD in return for top 3 players. And when AD is playing the way he should, he's arguably a top 5 player.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

A bit of a strawman. No one is saying it's an even swap. It certainly isn't lopsided. You also tried to be slick by referring to Luka's availability over the course of his career. Bottomline is over the course of the last few seasons AD has played more games.

Also, tell me how this conspiracy worked. Did the league officials collude with the Mavs, and Lakers? If so, why did the Mavs go to two other teams first? Also tell me what other star/all NBA player would a team give up for Luka? You're not getting Giannis, Tatum, Jocker, or SGA.

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I addressed Luka’s “fitness” argument in the edited response above. Also if you say “ the trade was good for both parties.” That implies that the trade is “fair.” Those are synonymous statements. If you reduce the sample size enough, you can make any argument true. So, AD has played more games this year makes us forget completely that he has been labeled injury prone throughout the entirety of his Laker career. He was nicknamed “street clothes,” I guess because of his availability?

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

I addressed Luka’s “fitness” argument in the edited response above. Also if you say “ the trade was good for both parties.” That implies that the trade is “fair.” Those are synonymous statements.

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No, It's not. Saying it's fair simply means the Mavs got what they wanted and they're happy with it. So did the Lakers. Theoretically I could see both teams benefiting from the move. And lets be clear.. AD is a monster. He anchors a defense, and gets buckets at a high level. We are talking about an all-star/all NBA player, who's one of the best bigs in the league.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Also tell me what other star/all NBA player would a team give up for Luka? You're not getting Giannis, Tatum, Joker, or SGA.

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That's a bit of eye of the beholder. Personally I'd take Luka over all of those players.

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Originally Posted by donato

That's a bit of eye of the beholder. Personally I'd take Luka over all of those players.

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Interesting.. I don't think he's worth it straight up. But I guess you can make the argument. He's a major problem to deal with offensively, so I can understand why you feel that way.

The only players I would take over Luka are Wemby, Jokic, and SGA. I’ll add SGA to the list.

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

The only players I would take over Luka are Wemby and Jokic.

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Oh yeah.. I forgot about Wemby.

I would not take Luka over jokic or sga. He plays zero defense and is fat and lazy

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Originally Posted by tthier2

I would not take Luka over jokic or sga. He plays zero defense and is fat and lazy

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The same ******** was said about Jokic once upon a time...

The Mavericks GM and owner need to be drug tested, that's the only way to make any sense of this trade.
I wouldn't trade any player for Anthony " I'm hurt again" Davis. This is just so baffling. Luka is 25 and Davis 32, that alone makes it a horrible trade.
Something is missing here and I'm sure it will come our sooner or later.

They can't keep getting away with it! Somebody was holding a gun to the Dallas GM's head.

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Originally Posted by dvdman

The Mavericks GM and owner need to be drug tested, that's the only way to make any sense of this trade.
I wouldn't trade any player for Anthony " I'm hurt again" Davis. This is just so baffling. Luka is 25 and Davis 32, that alone makes it a horrible trade.
Something is missing here and I'm sure it will come our sooner or later.

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Luka is now ineligible for the super max. Would have been worth like 385 million or something. Could have just been a financial deal.

Gobert alone was traded for four 1’st rd picks. The top 3 generational player entering his prime got traded for an aging center and one 1’st rd pick to a big market franchise. I’m sure NBA and their tanking ratings had nothing to do with it….

— Dmitri Brosky (@hikerdude408) February 3, 2025

Here's the supermax info...

Luka Doncic just lost out on $116,000,000... and the biggest contract in NBA history.

He was eligible for a supermax extension this summer with the Mavs: a massive 5-year, $345M contract.

It would've been the largest contract in NBA history, surpassing Jayson Tatum's $315M… pic.twitter.com/NkYN4RtaFx

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 2, 2025

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Originally Posted by P_B_&_G

Gobert alone was traded for four 1’st rd picks. The top 3 generational player entering his prime got traded for an aging center and one 1’st rd pick to a big market franchise. I’m sure NBA and their tanking ratings had nothing to do with it….

— Dmitri Brosky (@hikerdude408) February 3, 2025

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It's cool to have differing opinions.. but it's dishonest to to frame it around bad context. This post said "aging center".. Without mentioning that AD is one of the best big men in the league, and will continue to be for at least 4 to 5 more years. He's also an NBA champion, and centerpiece to a championship squad. Short, term.. Mavs are better than the Lakers as of right now.

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Originally Posted by P_B_&_G

Here's the supermax info...

Luka Doncic just lost out on $116,000,000... and the biggest contract in NBA history.

He was eligible for a supermax extension this summer with the Mavs: a massive 5-year, $345M contract.

It would've been the largest contract in NBA history, surpassing Jayson Tatum's $315M… pic.twitter.com/NkYN4RtaFx

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 2, 2025

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I don't think he'll be the last superstar this happens to. We already see it happening with All-stars, and fringe all-stars.

REPORT: The Dallas Mavericks gave Luka Doncic an 11-day excused absence in late November to ‘shed weight after he had ballooned into the high 260s,’ according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

This.. and the amount of money he was about to demand is why he got moved. All the breadcrumbs lead to this conclusion. Not some grand conspiracy.

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Originally Posted by P_B_&_G

Gobert alone was traded for four 1’st rd picks. The top 3 generational player entering his prime got traded for an aging center and one 1’st rd pick to a big market franchise. I’m sure NBA and their tanking ratings had nothing to do with it….

— Dmitri Brosky (@hikerdude408) February 3, 2025

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The NBA want to be the NFL. The problem is they don't have Taylor Swift bringing in her massive fanbase to the sport. There was clearly foul play involved in this trade. Is it a last ditch attempt by the NBA to drum up revenue? It makes no sense. Regardless of your thoughts on both of these players and their ages, this trade makes no sense. Dallas could have gotten far more. Anthony is a great player that doesn't thread the needle and he is only getting older.

Yeah. You can make some rational arguments as to why the Mavs would trade the guy but for him to go straight to the Lakers without first drumming up a massive bidding war?

Unless the other teams come out and say they were offered Luka and passed (which we all know didn't happen) it's clear the league was involved.

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

Yeah. You can make some rational arguments as to why the Mavs would trade the guy but for him to go straight to the Lakers without first drumming up a massive bidding war?

Unless the other teams come out and say they were offered Luka and passed (which we all know didn't happen) it's clear the league was involved.

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Yep. Very strange one. I can't rationalize it any which way.

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

Yeah. You can make some rational arguments as to why the Mavs would trade the guy but for him to go straight to the Lakers without first drumming up a massive bidding war?

Unless the other teams come out and say they were offered Luka and passed (which we all know didn't happen) it's clear the league was involved.

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Wrong boss.. They contacted two other teams before the Lakers. Rob and Nico were in contact regarding Luka for over 2 weeks before the deal was done.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Wrong boss.. They contacted two other teams before the Lakers. Rob and Nico were in contact regarding Luka for over 2 weeks before the deal was done.

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That in no way makes it any better of a deal. I don't buy the conspiracy theory stuff though.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Wrong boss.. They contacted two other teams before the Lakers. Rob and Nico were in contact regarding Luka for over 2 weeks before the deal was done.

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You keep saying that they contacted 2 other teams. Please point me to your source on this because I haven’t heard that anywhere else. And even if it is true, when you trade a top 5 player in the league, you maximize your return by opening the bidding to ALL the teams in the NBA.

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Originally Posted by pr1840

You keep saying that they contacted 2 other teams. Please point me to your source on this because I haven’t heard that anywhere else. And even if it is true, when you trade a top 5 player in the league, you maximize your return by opening the bidding to ALL the teams in the NBA.

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It's on Sports Illustrated, and Bleacher Report. Do a google search.. "Mavs contacted two other teams before the Lakers for Luka". There are many sources. The fact that this happened throws the Lakers conspiracy right out of the window. One team flat out rejected Luka.

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Originally Posted by donato

That in no way makes it any better of a deal. I don't buy the conspiracy theory stuff though.

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Again.. You're not getting Giannis, Joker, SGA, Tatum, or Wemby.. On any given night AD can be as good as, or better than all those players. There is no combination of players I'd want over AD outside of the ones I just mentioned.

You don't typically get all-NBA talent when trading franchise players. That's exactly what the Mavs got with AD.

There's no point in creating a bidding war with teams that have assets they don't want. They wanted AD, that's what they got.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Again.. You're not getting Giannis, Joker, SGA, Tatum, or Wemby.. On any given night AD can be as good as, or better than all those players. There is no combination of players I'd want over AD outside of the ones I just mentioned.

You don't typically get all-NBA talent when trading franchise players. That's exactly what the Mavs got with AD.

There's no point in creating a bidding war with teams that have assets they don't want. They wanted AD, that's what they got.

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The bottom line is the Mavs got a worse player who is six years older. All the while losing a franchise fan favorite. There's a reason the sports world is calling it one of, if not the worst trade in the history of sports and Mavs fans have their pitchforks.

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Originally Posted by donato

The bottom line is the Mavs got a worse player who is six years older. All the while losing a franchise fan favorite. There's a reason the sports world is calling it one of, if not the worst trade in the history of sports and Mavs fans have their pitchforks.

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Again.. many of you are being dishonest and finagling context to push your narrative. They're saying it's the most shocking trade in history, not worst. They're also saying the Mavs are better than the Lakers after this trade. Let's lay truth out on the table and make our arguments with that.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Again.. many of you are being dishonest and finagling context to push your narrative. They're saying it's the most shocking trade in history, not worst. They're also saying the Mavs are better than the Lakers after this trade. Let's lay truth out on the table and make our arguments with that.

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The Mavs are arguably better this year. But it's a very dumb trade for the long term. If you want to be that 5% guy that thinks it's a good trade for the Mavs, then ok, but the vast majority agree the Mavs got taken to the woodshed on this deal.

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Originally Posted by donato

The Mavs are arguably better this year. But it's a very dumb trade for the long term. If you want to be that 5% guy that thinks it's a good trade for the Mavs, then ok, but the vast majority agree the Mavs got taken to the woodshed on this deal.

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You keep misquoting, and omitting context. It's not an honest way to have an exchange. I'm not saying it's a good trade. I simply stated that there was no conspiracy, and it's not a lopsided trade.

This sort of thing happens.. As I said before, Shaq and Kobe didn't get along because Kobe didn't like how undisciplined he was. Shaq even said he'd come into the season out of shape because he knew Kobe would carry him during the season. Lakers didn't want to pay Shaq, and traded him. They didn't get equal value of course. They couldn't get Shaq to change his habits. Coaches get fired when they can't reach players and get them to change habits. We've seen this many times. Phil left the Lakers stating that the players are no longer listening. Zion is an example of a player that can't be influenced to alter his habits. Ingram to an extent, has had trouble altering his playstyle. The team doesn't want to pay him. He's on the trading block, along with Zion. Iverson, and Carmelo both refused to buy in and found themselves out of the league. Carmelo worked on his 3, and found a lane back into the league.

Players can be stubborn, and difficult to work with. Especially some franchise players. Luka stands out because of how prolific he is at such a young age. With that being said it's the same situation.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

You keep misquoting, and omitting context. It's not an honest way to have an exchange. I'm not saying it's a good trade. I simply stated that there was no conspiracy, and it's not a lopsided trade.

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I'm not saying it's a conspiracy either. But yes, it is an incredibly lopsided trade.

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Originally Posted by donato

I'm not saying it's a conspiracy either. But yes, it is an incredibly lopsided trade.

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I don't think you can characterize a trade with AD in it for Luka as lopsided, given their production on both sides of the court. And, considering AD has about 5 more years of prime play left. Also considering he can look like a top 3 player in the league on any given night, and outplay the best player in the league on any given night. I can understand why you feel that way though.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

I don't think you can characterize a trade with AD in it for Luka as lopsided, given their production on both sides of the court. And, considering AD has about 5 more years of prime play left. Also considering he can look like a top 3 player in the league on any given night, and outplay the best player in the league on any given night. I can understand why you feel that way though.

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That's fine. Most don't share that opinion.

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Originally Posted by donato

That's fine. Most don't share that opinion.

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Actually many do. When AD is on he's said to be a top 5 player or 10, in the league.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Actually many do. When AD is on he's said to be a top 5 player or 10, in the league.

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Sure, I suppose if you don't have the internet and don't talk to people, a lot think it was a reasonable trade.