Upon the bombshell breaking news surrounding the Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, there are now updated reports revealing how the trade came about.
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Reportedly, the trade was a surprise to all of the players involved, as the Mavs reached out to the Lakers a few days prior, hoping to get another superstar in exchange for their franchise player.
The Mavericks approached the Lakers recently and offered Luka Doncic, sources tell ESPN. Lakers brass met and believed the 25-year-old Doncic has the ability to be the face of their franchise for the next decade while giving Anthony Davis a win-now move in Dallas.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025
According to reports, the Mavericks were looking to cut ties with their 2018 Draft pickup, Luka Doncic, for they started to grow concerned over his injuries, weight and "constant conditioning issues."
Not to mention, the 5x All-Star's looming supermax contract extension this summer was set to reach as high as $345 million.
The Mavs had major concerns about moving forward with Luka Doncic due to his constant conditioning issues and the looming commitment of another supermax contract extension this summer, sources told ESPN.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 2, 2025
Evidently, there were rumors that the 6-foot-6 guard had been weighing nearly 270 pounds this season (per ESPN), as the Mavs were were getting increasingly weary of Luka "being out of shape," despite him averaging 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists, and 2.0 steals in 22 games.
The Mavericks "no longer viewed Luka as their franchise building block moving forward" (per @WindhorstESPN).
Fans reacted to these reports, as one user on X wrote, "first player ever to get traded because he was fat."
Luka Doncic has reached up to 270 pounds and the Dallas Mavericks were growing concerned, per ESPN.
This makes Luka the 7th heaviest player in the NBA 😳 pic.twitter.com/mvLOMoAjNL
— Basketball Forever (@bballforever_) February 2, 2025
Then others made comments that the 25-year-old Slovenian could play offensive line in the NFL.
"Luka weighs 270 pounds bruh they should've traded his a** to the [Dallas] Cowboys instead."
So the Mavericks were tired of Doncic missing games due to injury and decided to fix it by trading him for… Anthony Davis
It is to laugh pic.twitter.com/SS99uTqKqz
— Leon Wolf 🇮🇱 (@LeonHWolf) February 2, 2025
ESPN NBA analyst, Brian Windhorst, also spoke on the fact that other players around the league took notice right away over the situation, as presumably the Mavs must not have been on good terms with Luka.
“I had a current NBA All-Star text me and say, ‘Do you know how much the Mavericks must hate Luka?’”
–@WindhorstESPN on how the league is reacting to the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade pic.twitter.com/Z1afOJQm17
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 2, 2025
And likewise, in view of the other side, there were also reports that the Lakers' front office had been upset over Anthony Davis' latest interview with ESPN's Shams Charania, in which he talked openly about wanting the team to trade for a Center.
With this in mind, AD's partner in crime, LeBron James, made it clear that this was 100% Lakers management's decision, as he and his friend/teammate had no beef with one another.
The 40-year-old even responded on X to the false narrative, that was put out by a reporter.
You a fkn lie!!! 🤥🤡 https://t.co/EYNRUbUFmj
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 2, 2025
A reporter claimed LeBron had “grown frustrated with Anthony Davis”.
LeBron’s response: pic.twitter.com/lm6BnJpd7j
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) February 2, 2025
All in all, LeBron will now be teaming up with a new superstar, Luka Doncic, as both playmaking/scoring threats sharing the court together will certainly be a spectacle to watch.
“LeBron dreamed of this.”
- @WindhorstESPN on LeBron getting to play with Luka Doncic. pic.twitter.com/IPMjc3oVai
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) February 2, 2025
Related: Players Around The NBA React To Shocking Luka Doncic/Anthony Davis Trade
