February 3, 2025 • 10 mins
The basketball world is in shock after what's being described as one of the most stunning player trades in NBA history.
The Dallas Mavericks have sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers and landed Anthony Davis in return.
NBA reporter Trevor Lane joined Piney to discuss.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Twenty six to eight. One of the biggest basketball stories
in recent memory broke yesterday in one of the most
extraordinary trades in NBA history. Twenty five year old Dallas
Mavericks franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic has been traded to the
Los Angeles Lakers, who in turn have traded ten time
NBA All Star thirty one year old center Anthony Davis
(00:35):
back to the Mavericks. It would be fair to say
this sent shock waves through the NBA and much further afield.
Let's get you some insight on this. Trevor Lane, as
host of Lakers Nation, the number one Lakers news and
rumor site on the planet eight hundred and forty three
thousand followers, and also the NBA Front Office show, he
(00:56):
joins us Now, Trevor, is this the biggest NBA trade
of all time?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I think it's up there.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
I mean, we'd have to be going back to the
seventies when Kareem Abdul Jabarg got traded the Lakers as well.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Back way back then. I think to find something that
was at least as shocking as this trade was.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
No one saw this coming, to the point where when
the report came out, no one believed it. Everyone thought
it was fake, that someone had been hacked. But no,
actually it is real. It happened. And I mean this
sets off which should be a really eventful NBA trade deadline.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
And here we go Luca to La.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Why would the Dallas Mavericks have given up Luka Doncic.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
So from what my understanding is that they didn't want
to give a super.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Max contract to Luca this coming summer.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
They were concerned about his conditioning and they feared that
if they didn't want to give him the super max
contract that they were eligible to give him, that he
might ask out. There were already teams lining up to
potentially sign him in twenty twenty six in free agency,
and they worried that it would be a contentious break
up this coming summer and they would be put in
(02:04):
a spot where they wouldn't be able to recoup the
kind of assets wanted on the trade front.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
They just wouldn't have leverage.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
So they in their minds, they're getting ahead of it
and getting this done now and getting the player that
they really wanted in Anthony Davis.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
How have Dallas Mavericks fans reacted to this?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Not well? They have not reacted well. They have been
they have not been happy.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I have yet to find a Mavericks fan, and I'm
sure they're out there, but I've yet to see a
Mavericks fan that is happy about the trade. A lot
of MAVs fans very upset and they are, I mean
protesting outside of the American Airlines Arena and all kinds
of things all over social media about Nico Harrison, the
MAVs general manager. They are not happy with this, with
(02:48):
this move that sends Luca to La So the.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Likeers, I've gained Luka Doncicic, I've lost Anthony Davis, a
team time All Star. A total sum win for Thekers, though,
isn't it?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
It is?
Speaker 4 (03:01):
It may be a setback this year because now the
problem is their roster is horribly unbalanced. They don't don't
have any centers aside from Jackson Hayes on their rosters,
so there are still moves to be made. So there's
things that have to happen still for this to be
a total win for this current season. They've gotten till
the Thursday trade, demine to make those things happen.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
But over the long haul, yes, a massive win for
the Lakers.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
They had a future of uncertainty with an aging Anthony
Davis Lebron James getting ready to write off into the
sunset at some point in the near future, and then
the question was going to be who is the next
star for the Lakers. Now they have that question answered,
they can move forward with certainty that their superstar for
the next decade they hope, is going to be Luka Doncic.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
This concept of tribes is a bit foreign to us
down here in New Zealand Treva. How much would HV,
Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis have known about this?
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Well, in most cases these players are informed of that
their name is in trade talks. They have some kind
of knowledge. Particularly for star level players, teams tend to
pay them that courtesy, that respect to say, hey, just
say you know, we're having these conversations, this is what's
going on, this is what could happen, so it doesn't
catch them by surprise. But in this case, the teams
(04:15):
were so concerned about secrecy they didn't want the word
getting out there about it. They didn't want a lot
of rumors and things starting about this situation. They really
kept it towards just the general managers from each team ownership.
That was about all who knew about the trade, and
so all the reportings suggests Anthony Davis, Luca and Lebron
James indeed as well, they were all blindsided by it
(04:38):
and surprised just last night when the trade went down.
But that's not typical typically players, they're at least giving
a little.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Bit of a heads up.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Oftentimes we even see a player their agent will cooperate
with the team to help them figure out where the
next landing spot will be.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
But this one was one that was kept very very quiet.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Lebron James will welcome Luka Doncic to the like as
he loses Anthony Davis. How do you assess his mindset
over this? Will he be happy with what's plight at you?
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Well, the word was that he was very surprised that
it that it went down. He reporting is that he
will not allow himself to be traded. He has a
no trade clause, so he will not drop that in
order to be traded by the Thursday trade deadline. So
he prefers to remain as a Los Angeles Laker. He
has the ability to make sure that is the case,
and that's what he will do. He has praised Luca
(05:30):
for years now, years and years and years. He is
he has called himself a fan of Luca's game, so
I believe that he does want to play with Luca.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
That said, he will.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
He will miss Anthony Davis, who has been his running
mate here, his partner in crime for the last five
six seasons here with the Lakers, So I know if
they'd catch him by surprise and and there'll be some shock,
there will be some adjustment. But again, he is a
longtime fan of Luca Dancic, so I think the opportunity
to do that will ultimately smooth things over any kind
(06:02):
of uncomfortable situations or awkwardness with Lebron.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
And it's Diavis is a good plyt least, don't forget that.
But how long will he have to bring a championship
to Dallas?
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Anthony Davis is phenomenal, one of the best defensive players
in the NBA. He's been incredible this He hit a
forty point and twenty rebound plus game in his final
performance for the Lakers. He is fantastic. The problem is
he's going to be third, turning thirty two in March,
teaming up with Kyrie Irving, who is also over thirty.
So we're realistically talking about probably a three year window,
(06:34):
maybe four year window for this MAVs team. They also
have an older Klay Thompson on the team, but Anthony
Davis will get to play power forward a lot more.
The MAVs have much more center depth than the Lakers have,
and that's something that Anthony Davis has talked about wanting
to do, to be able to play power forward instead
of center, so the MAVs will give him the opportunity
to do just that. This is a good MAVs team
(06:55):
that is really well balanced now with Anthony Davis in
the makes, and they should be a great defensive team
with the addition of Anthony Davis as well as Max Christy,
who is really coming into his own for the Lakers,
and now he's sent out in this trade. So the
Map's window probably about three years maybe four, which really
I mean that's a lifetime in the NBA, so they
still will get a good run with this.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yere all right, just to finish trivia, does this kind
of prove that, apart from the likes of Lebron who's
got the no trade clause, that no one is untradeable.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Really, I mean it really does.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Like the NBA, there's just so many crazy things that
have happened.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Over the years that no one would ever predict. I
mean this being the.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Craziest, but still yeah, I mean, this was such a
shock that anything now moving forward, where people would normally say, well,
that'll never happen, this is going to be the example
that people point to you and say, well, but know what,
But we always said this kind of thing, Luca being
traded would never happen, and yet it did. You just
never know in the NBA, and it's part of what
(07:56):
we love about this league.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
There's always surprises around every corner.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
We greatly appreciate your insight and your expertise. Trivia, thanks
so much for joining us across the Dew Zealand tonight.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Hey, no problem. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Now, thanks for joining us. Trevor. Trevor laying their host
of Lakers Nations. He's had such a busy twenty four hours.
I heard a lot of a lot of my basketball
friends and a lot of my colleagues here at news talks,
there'd be sport actually were all over this yesterday and
that was as Treva just said, then, that was the
initial thought that somebody had been hacked, that somebody's social
(08:31):
media account had been hacked, because this seemed so fanciful,
so unlikely, particularly from the Dallas Mavericks point of view.
They've given up a twenty five year old Luca Doncich.
Even if you don't follow NBA, I'm sure you've heard
the name. He was likely to be their cornerstone for
the next ten years. Instead, he's now likely to be
(08:55):
the LA Lakers cornerstone for the next decade. Across he
goes Anthony Davis, who, as Trevager said, it is a
very very very good player, goes to Dallas, but he's
thirty one, so his window is much shorter. And again,
as Trevor said, good to get some analysis from him
three or four week years probably for Anthony Davis, Kyrie
(09:16):
Irving who's at the Malick Mavericks and the others to
bring an NBA title to Dallas. Meantime, Luca Doncich is
across at the Lakers, teaming up with Lebron James and others,
and as likely to be the man you see on
posters and that yellow singlet, that famous yellow singlet for
a long long time to come look at throw? Could
(09:39):
you could Zealand? I knew you wanted to.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
Yeah, if I could throw a New Zealand view in
there to sort of give the context of its imagine
We're in the year two thousand and six, right, and
the All Blacks have the ability to trade Dan Carter,
and they trade Dan Carter in the year two thousand
and six for George Gregan. That's that's the level of
trade that Dallas has pulled off there. They've got a
good player in return, but they have absolutely mortgaged their
(10:03):
future on it.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
That's a very good comparison. So Dan Carter off the
back of the Lions to a here so good against
a guy who, yeah, is good, but a lot older.
It's a good comparison. That's a very good way of
us grasping it. Andy, I knew that you were here
for a reason. Thank you, Andrew.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks
it'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Twenty six to eight. One of the biggest basketball stories
in recent memory broke yesterday in one of the most
extraordinary trades in NBA history. Twenty five year old Dallas
Mavericks franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic has been traded to the
Los Angeles Lakers, who in turn have traded ten time
NBA All Star thirty one year old center Anthony Davis
(00:35):
back to the Mavericks. It would be fair to say
this sent shock waves through the NBA and much further afield.
Let's get you some insight on this. Trevor Lane, as
host of Lakers Nation, the number one Lakers news and
rumor site on the planet eight hundred and forty three
thousand followers, and also the NBA Front Office show, he
(00:56):
joins us Now, Trevor, is this the biggest NBA trade
of all time?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I think it's up there.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
I mean, we'd have to be going back to the
seventies when Kareem Abdul Jabarg got traded the Lakers as well.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Back way back then. I think to find something that
was at least as shocking as this trade was.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
No one saw this coming, to the point where when
the report came out, no one believed it. Everyone thought
it was fake, that someone had been hacked. But no,
actually it is real. It happened. And I mean this
sets off which should be a really eventful NBA trade deadline.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
And here we go Luca to La.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Why would the Dallas Mavericks have given up Luka Doncic.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
So from what my understanding is that they didn't want
to give a super.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Max contract to Luca this coming summer.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
They were concerned about his conditioning and they feared that
if they didn't want to give him the super max
contract that they were eligible to give him, that he
might ask out. There were already teams lining up to
potentially sign him in twenty twenty six in free agency,
and they worried that it would be a contentious break
up this coming summer and they would be put in
(02:04):
a spot where they wouldn't be able to recoup the
kind of assets wanted on the trade front.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
They just wouldn't have leverage.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
So they in their minds, they're getting ahead of it
and getting this done now and getting the player that
they really wanted in Anthony Davis.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
How have Dallas Mavericks fans reacted to this?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Not well? They have not reacted well. They have been
they have not been happy.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I have yet to find a Mavericks fan, and I'm
sure they're out there, but I've yet to see a
Mavericks fan that is happy about the trade. A lot
of MAVs fans very upset and they are, I mean
protesting outside of the American Airlines Arena and all kinds
of things all over social media about Nico Harrison, the
MAVs general manager. They are not happy with this, with
(02:48):
this move that sends Luca to La So the.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Likeers, I've gained Luka Doncicic, I've lost Anthony Davis, a
team time All Star. A total sum win for Thekers, though,
isn't it?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
It is?
Speaker 4 (03:01):
It may be a setback this year because now the
problem is their roster is horribly unbalanced. They don't don't
have any centers aside from Jackson Hayes on their rosters,
so there are still moves to be made. So there's
things that have to happen still for this to be
a total win for this current season. They've gotten till
the Thursday trade, demine to make those things happen.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
But over the long haul, yes, a massive win for
the Lakers.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
They had a future of uncertainty with an aging Anthony
Davis Lebron James getting ready to write off into the
sunset at some point in the near future, and then
the question was going to be who is the next
star for the Lakers. Now they have that question answered,
they can move forward with certainty that their superstar for
the next decade they hope, is going to be Luka Doncic.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
This concept of tribes is a bit foreign to us
down here in New Zealand Treva. How much would HV,
Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis have known about this?
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Well, in most cases these players are informed of that
their name is in trade talks. They have some kind
of knowledge. Particularly for star level players, teams tend to
pay them that courtesy, that respect to say, hey, just
say you know, we're having these conversations, this is what's
going on, this is what could happen, so it doesn't
catch them by surprise. But in this case, the teams
(04:15):
were so concerned about secrecy they didn't want the word
getting out there about it. They didn't want a lot
of rumors and things starting about this situation. They really
kept it towards just the general managers from each team ownership.
That was about all who knew about the trade, and
so all the reportings suggests Anthony Davis, Luca and Lebron
James indeed as well, they were all blindsided by it
(04:38):
and surprised just last night when the trade went down.
But that's not typical typically players, they're at least giving
a little.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Bit of a heads up.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Oftentimes we even see a player their agent will cooperate
with the team to help them figure out where the
next landing spot will be.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
But this one was one that was kept very very quiet.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Lebron James will welcome Luka Doncic to the like as
he loses Anthony Davis. How do you assess his mindset
over this? Will he be happy with what's plight at you?
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Well, the word was that he was very surprised that
it that it went down. He reporting is that he
will not allow himself to be traded. He has a
no trade clause, so he will not drop that in
order to be traded by the Thursday trade deadline. So
he prefers to remain as a Los Angeles Laker. He
has the ability to make sure that is the case,
and that's what he will do. He has praised Luca
(05:30):
for years now, years and years and years. He is
he has called himself a fan of Luca's game, so
I believe that he does want to play with Luca.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
That said, he will.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
He will miss Anthony Davis, who has been his running
mate here, his partner in crime for the last five
six seasons here with the Lakers, So I know if
they'd catch him by surprise and and there'll be some shock,
there will be some adjustment. But again, he is a
longtime fan of Luca Dancic, so I think the opportunity
to do that will ultimately smooth things over any kind
(06:02):
of uncomfortable situations or awkwardness with Lebron.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
And it's Diavis is a good plyt least, don't forget that.
But how long will he have to bring a championship
to Dallas?
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Anthony Davis is phenomenal, one of the best defensive players
in the NBA. He's been incredible this He hit a
forty point and twenty rebound plus game in his final
performance for the Lakers. He is fantastic. The problem is
he's going to be third, turning thirty two in March,
teaming up with Kyrie Irving, who is also over thirty.
So we're realistically talking about probably a three year window,
(06:34):
maybe four year window for this MAVs team. They also
have an older Klay Thompson on the team, but Anthony
Davis will get to play power forward a lot more.
The MAVs have much more center depth than the Lakers have,
and that's something that Anthony Davis has talked about wanting
to do, to be able to play power forward instead
of center, so the MAVs will give him the opportunity
to do just that. This is a good MAVs team
(06:55):
that is really well balanced now with Anthony Davis in
the makes, and they should be a great defensive team
with the addition of Anthony Davis as well as Max Christy,
who is really coming into his own for the Lakers,
and now he's sent out in this trade. So the
Map's window probably about three years maybe four, which really
I mean that's a lifetime in the NBA, so they
still will get a good run with this.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yere all right, just to finish trivia, does this kind
of prove that, apart from the likes of Lebron who's
got the no trade clause, that no one is untradeable.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Really, I mean it really does.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Like the NBA, there's just so many crazy things that
have happened.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Over the years that no one would ever predict. I
mean this being the.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Craziest, but still yeah, I mean, this was such a
shock that anything now moving forward, where people would normally say, well,
that'll never happen, this is going to be the example
that people point to you and say, well, but know what,
But we always said this kind of thing, Luca being
traded would never happen, and yet it did. You just
never know in the NBA, and it's part of what
(07:56):
we love about this league.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
There's always surprises around every corner.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
We greatly appreciate your insight and your expertise. Trivia, thanks
so much for joining us across the Dew Zealand tonight.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Hey, no problem. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Now, thanks for joining us. Trevor. Trevor laying their host
of Lakers Nations. He's had such a busy twenty four hours.
I heard a lot of a lot of my basketball
friends and a lot of my colleagues here at news talks,
there'd be sport actually were all over this yesterday and
that was as Treva just said, then, that was the
initial thought that somebody had been hacked, that somebody's social
(08:31):
media account had been hacked, because this seemed so fanciful,
so unlikely, particularly from the Dallas Mavericks point of view.
They've given up a twenty five year old Luca Doncich.
Even if you don't follow NBA, I'm sure you've heard
the name. He was likely to be their cornerstone for
the next ten years. Instead, he's now likely to be
(08:55):
the LA Lakers cornerstone for the next decade. Across he
goes Anthony Davis, who, as Trevager said, it is a
very very very good player, goes to Dallas, but he's
thirty one, so his window is much shorter. And again,
as Trevor said, good to get some analysis from him
three or four week years probably for Anthony Davis, Kyrie
(09:16):
Irving who's at the Malick Mavericks and the others to
bring an NBA title to Dallas. Meantime, Luca Doncich is
across at the Lakers, teaming up with Lebron James and others,
and as likely to be the man you see on
posters and that yellow singlet, that famous yellow singlet for
a long long time to come look at throw? Could
(09:39):
you could Zealand? I knew you wanted to.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
Yeah, if I could throw a New Zealand view in
there to sort of give the context of its imagine
We're in the year two thousand and six, right, and
the All Blacks have the ability to trade Dan Carter,
and they trade Dan Carter in the year two thousand
and six for George Gregan. That's that's the level of
trade that Dallas has pulled off there. They've got a
good player in return, but they have absolutely mortgaged their
(10:03):
future on it.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
That's a very good comparison. So Dan Carter off the
back of the Lions to a here so good against
a guy who, yeah, is good, but a lot older.
It's a good comparison. That's a very good way of
us grasping it. Andy, I knew that you were here
for a reason. Thank you, Andrew.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks
it'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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