The Lakers were not the only team that Mavericks GM Nico Harrison reached out to regarding a possible Luka Doncic trade. According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the Mavericks had informal discussions with the Timberwolves regarding a possible Doncic-Anthony Edwards swap in the weeks leading up to the blockbuster deal with Los Angeles.
Those discussions didn’t go anywhere because Minnesota had no interest in trading its All-Star guard. However, the Timberwolves brass was stunned that Dallas was even considering a Doncic trade.
From a salary standpoint, the numbers would have matched up pretty neatly — Doncic is making $43MM this season and Edwards is pulling in $42.2MM. Edwards is in the first year of a five-year, max extension that currently adds up to $244.6MM. Recall that the main motivation for Dallas to trade Doncic is that the front office didn’t want to give him a five-year, super-max extension worth a projected $345MM.
Had the Timberwolves been willing to trade Edwards for Doncic, the two franchises would have essentially swapped superstars entering or in their prime. Edwards is still just 23 years old, while Doncic is 26.
Instead, the centerpiece of the package the Mavs received was 31-year old big man Anthony Davis, an oft-injured perennial All-Star who suffered an adductor strain in his Dallas debut and has yet to return. The deal has been extremely unpopular with Mavericks fans but they might have had a different reaction if the team essentially replaced one high-scoring playmaker with another.
Thus far, the Lakers are 3-1 in the games that Doncic has played since the trade, including a 111-102 win over the Timberwolves on Thursday.
If it was the afternoon where I am I would laugh. At noon I would giggle. Since it’s still early I chuckled. It’s all I could do.
Every day there’s a new story obviously designed by Lord Nico to try to justify that ridiculous trade. Nobody is ever going to think it was a good idea, give up.
Yup, def a PR move to justify the trade. Nico etched his name in history for being on the wrong side of the worst NBA trade of all time, and no amount of “leaked info” post-trade will fix how people see him.
But agreed, someone like Anthony Edwards would be the right target. It was just unfortunate for Mavs fans that they settled for a good player on the wrong side of 30 who has a worse injury history than the guy traded. Yes, the Mavs got better defensively, but now they will be running with two sidekicks and an empty shell of a once elite player for the new few years in what will be a failed attempt to build a “contender”
Edwards seems like a more reasonable trade target for Luka than AD. Not sure who would have to add to the trade to make it fair but I don’t see the Wolves wanting to make that deal anyway.
I think (like most) the Mavs undersold but if they wanted to get a star back who would be a reasonable comp? Really what other “star” would a team be willing to trade that to the Mavs so they could actually pretend to sell to their fans as a good deal? Who???
For age alone, Edwards made so much more sense.
Shows he was Nico is a lame GM because if you want to make the best deal let all teams know he is on the market. Not just 2 teams. lakers admitted they kept it quiet to not get into a bidding war with other teams. Nico didn’t want to hear the backlash of Mav fans. Just shows many GMs and owners don’t care about their fans.
That would actually make a lot more sense for the Mavs…
But you still don’t trade Luka for the reasons stated if this is the target…
Sure, it makes more sense for Dallas, but not for Minnesota. Edwards plays both ends of the floor and leaves it all out there. Of course Dallas wants that. Luka, with all of his offensive gifts, gives it away on D.
If AD and Luka both stay healthy, AD will make Dallas better than they were with Luka. He’s not exactly out there for 80 either.
“If AD and Luka both stay healthy, AD will make Dallas better than they were with Luka.”
I hope AD does stay healthy so we can see. IMO despite AD’s defense, Luka’s top 5 talent that got the Mavs to the Finals now gone will likely end up with the Mavs losing in the 1st rd to a higher seeded team due in part to AD’s injury since the trade dropping them to 9th.
They already were 9th without Luka
I don’t understand why Amick (and now HoopsRumors) can’t accurately report Doncic and the Lakers’ record since the trade.
He’s played in 6 games, not 4, and the Lakers are 4-2 in games he’s played in, not 3-1:
Vs Jazz, W; @ Jazz, L; Vs Hornets, L; @ Nuggets, W; vs Mavs, W; Vs Twolves, W
SMH!
Lakers won 9 out of ten before the Luka deal.
Just sayin. They were clicking big time. I’m still not convinced this won’t end up being subtraction by addition. Let’s see when the honeymoon is over and Bron is back on D, 4 on 5, while Luka argues with a ref because he didn’t get a weak touch foul called,
Wrong, they were 8-2, with 2 wins over the Wizards, 1 each over the 76ers and Hornets, and losses to the 76ers and Clippers. Strong road wins over the Celtics and Knicks, a decent home win over the Heat, and a road win @ GSW before they got Butler.
I don’t think many are predicting a long playoff run for the Lakers with their lack of a strong center, but since the trade they’re also the same 8-2 (4-2 in games where a far from 100% Doncic has played), with the #2 ranked defense and #7 net rating in the league over the past 10 games.
Can mavs still sign luka after he’s FA 2026?
They can, but would Luka?