In the early hours of Feb. 2, many thought they were hallucinating when the details of a trade that sent Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers were reported.
ESPN Senior NBA insider Shams Charania broke the news. The general reaction at the time was that his X account must’ve been hacked.
“Yes, this is real,” said Charania in an X post detailing the full trade shortly after his initial announcement.
The 25-year-old Slovenian point guard was named to the All-NBA first team in five of his first six seasons. He led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, winning Western Conference Finals MVP along the way.
He averaged 28.1 points ‒ fourth highest in the league ‒ 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game in just 22 games for the Mavericks this season despite injury.
“I mean, everyone was surprised, so you can imagine how surprised I was,” Dončić said at his first Lakers press conference on Tuesday.
“I was almost asleep when I got the call and I had to check to see if it was April 1st, I didn’t believe it at first. It was a big shock, hard moments for me. [Dallas] was home.”
Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison said in a press conference following the trade that Dallas “got ahead” of what would be a “tumultuous summer [with] him being eligible for the supermax [contract].”
This comment leads one to believe that Dončić was not willing to sign a contract extension with the Mavericks, but he refuted that on Tuesday.
“Absolutely not,” said Dončić when asked if he had indicated that he wouldn’t sign the supermax extension with Dallas. “Easy answer.”
Dončić was sent to the Lakers as a part of a six-player, three-team trade that saw the Mavericks receive superstar Anthony Davis.
Davis, 31, has been a driving force for L.A. since he arrived there in 2019, including winning the NBA Championship with LeBron James in his first season as a Laker in 2020.
“Obviously, it was shocking just because I didn’t know,” said Davis.
Dončić has been out with a calf-strain injury since Christmas Day. Davis suited up for his Mavericks debut on Saturday against the Houston Rockets.
He got off to a scorching hot start, leading his team with 26 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks but left the game with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter with a non-contact groin injury.
Dončić and Davis weren’t the only star players that were traded in the week leading up to the NBA’s Feb. 6 trade deadline.
De’Aaron Fox was dealt to the San Antonio Spurs to create a star duo with Victor Wenbanyama, who was announced as an all-star in just his second season.
Zach Lavine was sent to the Sacramento Kings as part of the Fox trade and the Toronto Raptors landed themselves a former all-star in Brandon Ingram.
Jimmy Butler, who has been very open about wanting a trade, got his wish when he was traded to the Golden State Warriors.
While he may be upset about being moved from the only team he has known in the NBA, Dončić is at least excited about the environment in L.A.
“I got the ocean here. That’s a really big thing for me,” said Dončić.
