The Luka Dončić trade was one of those “Nexus Moments” that the Marvel movies keep preaching about. For anyone who saw the news, time stood still for a moment as they comprehended the magnitude of the decision, questioned its legitimacy, and then felt reality set in.
Since then, the Dallas Mavericks have been mocked for letting a true generational superstar walk away without a significant enough return. However, according to a former NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas is the winner of the trade.
Dwight Howard Gives Dallas the Edge Over Lakers in Luka Dončić Trade
It seemed impossible that a team would trade arguably the best player in the world, coming off a season in which he led his team to the NBA Finals. Dončić, at just 25 years old, is one of the NBA’s best scorers, and his accomplishments can barely fit on a single Wikipedia page.
A five-time All-Star and All-NBA First-Team selection, the latter of which is sixth among all active players, Dončić has been one-of-one since he entered the league. His averages rival the likes of LeBron James and Michael Jordan, and he’s one of the few players with an outside chance to reach their level of acclaim.
Still, for Dwight Howard, the ultimate winners of the trade are the Mavericks for one simple reason: Anthony Davis. “Kyrie [Irving] and AD [Anthony Davis] on the same team, and Klay [Thompson]? Bruh, what? Kyrie, Klay on the same team, with AD?”
However, he did not mean to diminish the talents of the Slovenian superstar. “Don’t get me wrong. Luka fine now. I can take nothing away from him, he fine now. He is the Clipper killer.” But, for Howard, it was still the name value on Dallas that won out.
Since the trade, the Mavericks have been faring better. They’ve won six of their last seven, and that is with Davis appearing in just three-quarters of a game before aggravating a groin injury.
On the other hand, Dončić struggled out of the gates as a Laker, first with a minute restriction and then without one. But after getting his legs under him, he spent a month on the shelf with a calf injury, he showed his worth in Los Angeles’ first clash against the Denver Nuggets this season.
Something of a kryptonite for LA, especially over the last couple of seasons, the Nuggets have dominated nearly every matchup against this squad. But in Dončić’s coming out party, it was a completely different story, as the Lakers won 123-100 in a dominant display.
The former Maverick, on his end, was absolutely sensational, tallying 30-10-8, along with four steals. Already, it is starting to look like the Lakers won the trade.
But when you consider the future of a 25-year-old versus three players with ample injury history all on the wrong side of 30, it begins to seep in why Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has been public enemy No. 1 in the city of Dallas.
It will take a while before an official verdict is out, depending on how the two sides fare when it comes to team success in the future. But, for the time being, it is hard to imagine a scenario where Dallas walks out looking like the better squad in the deal.
