Mavericks display gross incompetence not extracting more for Luka Doncic; Lakers gifted another young star

Rob Pelinka initially thinking Nico Harrison was kidding when he brought up Luka Doncic, plus Shams Charania having to confirm he wasn't hacked and the trade report was 1000% real shows just how bad a deal Dallas made. And here's the thing, if a general manager wants to trade their 25 year old superstar who just led the team to the NBA Finals, as crazy as that sounds that's his prerogative, but not trying to get a king's ransom by opening up the bidding from several bidders is gross incompetence.

Would Pelinka and the Lakers turn down a chance to get Doncic if Dallas at least demanded Austin Reaves and/or rookie Dalton Knecht be included in the deal to offset the fact the Lakers are getting both the much younger player and better one? I mean the Lakers were going no where. They were led by a 40 year old LeBron and a 31 year old Anthony Davis and few future draft picks to restock with. The Lakers were facing being a fringe playoff team until LeBron retired and then trading an old Davis for whatever they could get. With that "whatever" being nothing even close to a young star.

For what it's worth Harrison used to be Kobe Bryant's marketing manager with Nike. Pelinka at that time was Bryant's agent. Pelinka of course later became the Lakers general manager while Harrison has just gifted his late former superstar client's team the best young star they've had since Kobe himself was a Laker.

And then Nico Harrison and the Mavericks gifted the Lakers a life preserver. Here's a 25 year old superstar you can quickly rebuild around. Once LeBron is off the books, simply sign whatever free agent star wants to live in Los Angeles and Hollywood, and you're instant contenders again. No way the Lakers walk away from getting Doncic if Dallas demanded more. You think the Lakers would have traded a 25 year old Davis for a 31 year old lesser star? Of course not. The Lakers needed to have added considerably more to get Doncic in a deal, yet Dallas for some odd reason didn't demand it.

If you feel like you've seen something similar to this before, it's because you have. Most recently you had Kobe Bryant demanding out of Los Angeles because they couldn't compete, until Chris Wallace for some odd reason gifted the Lakers their young star in Pau Gasol. If the Grizzlies wanted to trade Gasol that was fine, but they only engaged with the Lakers and didn't even get Andrew Bynum or Lamar Odom out of L.A.

You also had the New Orleans Hornets a few years later attempt to trade Chris Paul in what would have been another heist for the Lakers, but since the Hornets at that time didn't have an owner, then commissioner David Stern was able to veto that incompetent deal. Unfortunately the Mavericks do have an owner and this trade can't face the same fate.

An old superstar in Kevin Durant was able to fetch the Nets Mikal Bridges and five first round picks, or ten after they moved Bridges to New York. An old non-superstar in Rudy Gobert fetched five first round picks. Watch how much teams offer for DeAron Fox and he's not in Luka's class.

Anthony Davis is not a bad player, but you make trades based on what someone will provide for you now and in the future. You're not getting age 21 through 30 Davis. You're getting a 31 year old who will decline as the years tick on and miss more games. Those type of players still have value, but nothing like a 25 year old All-NBA 1st Team, MVP caliber player. To repeat, Doncic has been a 1st Team All-NBA player for the past five seasons. And one can reliably expect his next five seasons to be better than his early 20's.

Would I have traded Doncic? Definitely not. But if I was even going to entertain a deal, it would only be if I had sought out the best offers from all of the remaining 29 NBA teams. You can probably count on just one hand the NBA players who GM's would turn swapping for Luka Doncic. Dallas not receiving fair value for Doncic is what makes this gross incompetence.

Trading Luka in the first place would have been a risky and bold move that would be questioned. But trading him for 60 cents on the dollar is the real crime here. The fact that the Lakers are on the winning side of another sweetheart gifting of a star trade does make it worse, but even if it wasn't the purple and egg yolk, the trade still would have been a horrendous one.

The Mavericks just got worse both now and definitely in the future. Both Kyrie Irving or Anthony Davis have proven time and time again they can't lead a team as the #1 guy. The Mavs are no longer true contenders. And they will only get worse in the future as their old guys age more.

If Dallas didn't want to move forward with Luka Doncic there were several better options they could have chosen either now or in the offseason. Pelinka and the Lakers were right to think Dallas was joking. It would have considered an insult to offer an old Davis for a young superstar like Doncic. It was a late Christmas gift for the Lakers.


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