The trade of Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers in a three-team exchange left many, particularly Mavericks supporters, in a state of disbelief. Moreover, it appeared to these observers that Dallas had abandoned any long-term plans with the 25-year-old Doncic in favor of a shorter-term strategy with 31-year-old Anthony Davis.
However, some experts, like Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and TNT’s Inside the NBA analyst Shaquille O’Neal, had a more optimistic view of the Mavericks’ decision. On the TNT pregame show before a matchup between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, Shaq shared his perspective on the trade, which he suspected might not be widely accepted.
“For the next 2 years, I think Dallas won that trade.”
Shaq on the Luka & AD trade. pic.twitter.com/wkCrTxtcSI
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 5, 2025
“There’s a lot of speculation, ‘Can him [Doncic] and ‘Bron [LeBron James] play with each other?’ The answer is yes, of course they can play with each other. It’s going to be interesting. However, I think Dallas got the better of the trade … For the next two years anyway.”
While it may not be a popular opinion, it isn’t entirely far-fetched either. Davis, a 10-time All-Star and NBA champion with the Lakers who was a runner-up in the 2019-20 Defensive Player of the Year race, remains one of the league’s top big men, capable of scoring both inside and outside and a formidable defender in the paint.
Although Davis doesn’t match Doncic’s offensive output, who led the NBA in scoring last year with an average of 33.9 points per game, he is sufficiently skilled offensively and has demonstrated his ability to lead a defense at a championship level.
Combining all these factors, and assuming Davis and Kyrie Irving remain healthy—a significant if in their careers—it’s plausible to see why Shaq believes in the Mavericks’ potential advantage. Nonetheless, for this trade to be considered even remotely successful from Dallas’s perspective, especially among its fanbase, winning a championship in the next couple of seasons might be necessary.
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