The NBA trade deadline is long past, and the league is still abuzz with the recent trades that were made. The most notable and shocking move was by the Dallas Mavericks, trading Luka Dončić among two other teammates to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. This news came as a shock to everyone involved, but mostly to the guys getting traded. Luka heard from an acquaintance about this trade before any official communication was made.
It has been a busy 2 weeks getting settled, streamlining new player combinations, and building chemistry for all the teams that made moves during the trade window. Fans have started coming around, and in most cases, all new players have played at least one game with their new teams.
For Anthony Davis, however, it may be a while before he can comfortably play in his new uniform. The player had suffered an abdominal strain on the 28th of January days before he was traded. This injury saw him miss the first three games with the Mavericks. On his debut, on February 8th, Davis played a stellar game, scoring 26 points and collecting 16 rebounds. This was short-lived, as he had to exit the game in the 3rd quarter due to a left adductor injury. This injury will see him sit out a minimum of ten games from that date.
The Lakers seem to have gotten the sweeter end of this deal since Luka has played 4 games for the Lakers so far, unlike Davis, who has hardly played a whole game for the Mavericks. Luka’s offense, coupled with LeBron’s, gives the Lakers a chance for a deep playoff run. The Lakers also bagged a win against the Denver Nuggets, who had only conceded 3 games to the Lakers since the beginning of the 2022–23 season.
Safe to say the Lakers got Luka for a steal and the better deal.
