Roughly two-and-a-half months removed from the trade that sent him from Dallas to Los Angeles, Luka Doncic sat down with ESPN’s Malika Andrews (YouTube link) ahead of the Lakers‘ first-round playoff series with Minnesota and said he still hasn’t talked to Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison since the deal.
Speaking to select Dallas-based media earlier this week for the first time in over two months, Harrison said he had “no regrets” about the trade and repeated the mantra “defense wins championships” when asked why he didn’t feel that the Doncic-led core that made the NBA Finals last season was capable of winning a championship.
Doncic was asked by Andrews what he thought of Harrison’s comments.
“It’s just sad the way he’s talking right now,” the Lakers’ star said (story via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com). “I never say anything bad about him, and I just want to move on. The fans, my ex-teammates, I’ll always keep at heart. It’s time for me to move on from there.”
Doncic admitted that he didn’t take the news of the trade well — he said he threw his phone across the room, cracking it, when he first learned he’d been dealt out of Dallas, and repeatedly asked if it was an early “April 1st” joke.
“Sadness, mostly,” Doncic said of his initial feelings. “I was still in shock. Like, crazy shock. I felt like my heart was broken, honestly.”
In the wake of the trade, numerous reports out of Dallas indicated the Mavericks had concerns about Doncic’s work ethic, diet, and conditioning issues. While it was impossible for the five-time All-Star to avoid those reports, he said he tried to ignore them and move forward with his new team, rather than dwelling on what went wrong with the Mavs.
“I mean it’s painful, depending on how you take it,” Doncic said. “It mostly came from Dallas, so I didn’t want to talk back. But I don’t really read that much stuff. I’m just trying to focus on my journey.”
Asked by Andrews if he had envisioned playing his entire career in Dallas prior to the trade, Doncic replied, “Of course. That’s an easy question.”
He’s no longer eligible for the five-year, super-max extension that the Mavericks could have offered him this summer, but Doncic will have the ability this offseason to sign a new contract with the Lakers that could be worth up to a projected $229MM over four years, beginning in 2026/27.
It remains to be seen whether the 26-year-old would prefer that long-term extension or a shorter-term contract that would put him in better position to maximize his future earnings, but it sounds like he’ll have interest in getting a deal done with the Lakers. Asked by Andrews if he wants to stay in Los Angeles, Doncic offered a succinct, straightforward reply.
“Yes,” he said.
Of course he is going to say yes on wanting to stay in LA but after LeBron retires, what’s keeping him LA? I can see him going to Miami when his contract expires. There js no state income tax like Texas, nice beaches, Dragic used to live here and its a closer flight to Slovenia lol. Maybe he teams up with Jokic in Denver or somewhere else
Why would he want to stay in L.A? Because it’s still the preeminent franchise in the league. Because they have a longstanding ownership that is committed to winning. Because they just extended Pelinka, the top of the heap G.M that stole him from Dallas. Because they have a great young coach that has embraced him and has the team playing great all around basketball around him. Because they have a good young developing roster that has some shooters and plays good D. Because, once LeBron retires it’ll free up $50 million or so to bring in another top end free agent and they will be lining up half way across the country to play in L.A with Luka. Because Luka is a loyal guy and he wants to show Dallas what they gave up by putting up a dominant performance with his new team for the next decade or so. Luka is FIRE in L.A and he’s smart enough to know when he’s got a great thing going on. His attitude won’t be to go off chasing bright shiny things. His attitude is gonna be I’m the bright shiny thing, and people will chase me here with the Lakers. The thought of going to the Heat is positively absurd. That is not a culture he would thrive in. Nobody goes to Denver as a free agent, Jokic or not. What Lukas gonna sign with the Nuggets to see Jokic retire after a couple more seasons and leave himself in Denver with nothing and no one? maybe Jokic comes to L.A at some point to play with Luka, but it’s never gonna happen the other way around.
The no state income taxes isn’t really as big of a deal when you’re talking about the difference between Miami and LA because while the taxes are significantly higher in LA the opportunities to make money and be more marketable are significantly higher. Add in the Lakers prestige and on opportunity to stomp the Mavs more consistently and suddenly there’s a lot that’s appealing to LA. I do agree that I could see he and Jokic hooking up, but I think it’s either in Denver or LA and it’s unlikely to be anywhere else like Miami.
Denver isn’t even in position to pursue him next summer! They have absolutely no way to clear max cap space ( no chance they can dump enough salary ) and they are way over the second apron so they can’t legally do sign and trades! To join the nuggets he will have to play for free basically!
Better beaches than Southern California? Lakers and Hollywood are hard to say no to.
Plus isnt Miami going to be under water in like 10 years and the Governor wants to deport all immigrants? Wasnt that US citizen ICE detained, detained in Florida? I would think Luka would rather go to NYC or Chicago than Miami, if we are just talking about non-bball issues.
Until the current Pres is gone, most international people want to be in blue states, including celebrities. Didnt they just deport a guy who was here legally for 10 years, had a business in Texas, family and was from Australia and they told him never to come back…
I think Luka will stay in LA for the rest of his career. Plus why would you give up the potential Lakers v. Celtics and try and beat the two guys who have had success against him, Tatum and Brown?
He was never gonna go to free agency! He will extend with lakers for a couple years and re evaluate
Im glad Luka is taking the high road. It’s the only way to destroy Dallas management and make Dumont/Harrison look even more incompetent. I like to see bad people look bad.
Harrison will be fired this off season.
Someone has to pay for the stupidity.
Mavs ownership is too tone deaf to make it a reality
Wouldn’t it be stunning (AND cool) if, when asked if he plans to stay in LA long term, Luka bluntly replied “it really depends on LeBron’s plans. If he intends on retiring after this season or next, so we can get younger and sign some impactful free agents, then HECK YES I’d like to stay. But if he plans to just ride mine and Austin’s coattails into his mid-40s, I’ll have to reconsider.” ESPN would LIKELY need to edit out this part of the interview – can’t disturb the “narrative”.
Your posts are just like Davey J’s. Only difference is the subject matter is LeBron James instead of Steve Kerr.
OneWay Wonder before he got Phat ……
link to images.app.goo.gl
Actually has some definition. No belly … as it should be for a 19 yr old Luka.
I love how everyone piles on Nico when it was prob his bosses that were like “hell no” and Nico can’t really say it was a mistake obviously.
I don’t really care one way or another for anything Mavs but not wanting to make an Embiid-like contract with a 30-yr old body who’s not in shape always….time will tell if it was such a huge disaster as everyone says. But without Kyrie Mavs we’re going no where Luka or AD.
Mavs fans need to shut up.
” I love how everyone piles on Nico when it was prob his bosses that were like “hell no” and Nico can’t really say it was a mistake obviously.”
Then you make him available to everyone…….
When Steven Assmith speaks, I know the opposite is true.
Any one with open eyes knows that the unspoken elephant in the room is part of the reason regarding Doncic and the Nico Harrison bashing meme. Let’s not fool ourselves.