The Los Angeles Lakers shocked the basketball world on Saturday night when word got out about a blockbuster trade sending Anthony Davis and others to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic.
The trade seemingly came out of nowhere and breaks up a LeBron James and Davis pairing that formed in 2019 and won a championship together.
It appears James was just as shocked as everybody else and did not know the trade would be happening, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
Lakers superstar LeBron James learned of the trade when it broke while he was out to dinner with his family after Saturday’s win against the New York Knicks, sources close to James told ESPN. James was surprised by the news, is processing it and had no idea it was in the works, sources said.
LeBron has typically been involved in the Lakers’ roster moves, often giving input to Rob Pelinka and the front office. It appears that obviously wasn’t the case this time around, however.
It’s worth noting that James has long been an admirer of Doncic, but Davis was like family to him as well so this truly had to have been wild news to hear while you’re at dinner after a game. It will be interesting to see where the Lakers go from here, and if LeBron still wants to be a part of what they are doing moving forward.
It’s no secret that Doncic and James are both at their best with the ball in their hands. The latter is obviously 40 years old though, so the Lakers seemed to prioritize their future here over finding the best pairing for James.
Mavericks approached Lakers about Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis trade
According to reports after the trade came out, it was the Mavericks who approached the Lakers about a Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis blockbuster deal. While that may seem unfathomable on the surface, they apparently were worried about his conditioning long-term and did not want to give him a supermax deal this offseason.
The Lakers obviously had no problem gambling on the 25-year-old superstar though, and now it will be interesting to see how the pieces fit together with LeBron James and the rest of the roster moving into the future.
The trade deadline is on Thursday, Feb. 6, so Rob Pelinka may have some more deals up his sleeve to address their newfound needs after deadline Davis and Max Christie.
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