All Lakers

Mavericks Owner Continues to Make Things Worse After Lakers Trade of Luka Doncic

It doesn't seem like he can stop making excuses for trading Luka Doncic to the Lakers.
Mar 10, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Mar 10, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

In this story:


The Los Angeles Lakers shocked the NBA when they were able to trade for Luka Doncic a couple of weeks before the trade deadline. It was perhaps the most shocking trade in league history.

Doncic was sent over to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round pick. It was a shockingly low price to acquire one of the best players in the league.

Patrick Dumont, the Mavericks owner, has been getting absolutely torched by the fans. Fans are not happy with the decision to trade away the face of the franchise for pennies on the dollar.

Read more: Lakers' LeBron James Returns to LA Following Medical Recommendation

Dumont continues to make excuses for why they decided to move on from Doncic and send him to the Lakers.

"Tough decisions are never easy and part of leadership is looking at risk and looking at all the factors of a decision and being willing to act at that time and look to the long-term and not only think about the short-term or how it may be received immediately. To think about the long-term benefits and what you may achieve if given all the right considerations...so this was a decision about the future, if you look at our roster today and who we have, we feel like we positioned ourselves to be incredibly competitive against the best teams in the NBA."

Dumont thinks that he had to make a tough decision for the long-term benefit of the franchise. He also still thinks he has a pretty good team, even without Doncic.

"And you have you have Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, PJ Washington, Anthony Davis, and either Daniel Gafford or Dereck Lively as your starting five, that's gonna put fear into a lot of teams."

More Lakers news: Latest Proposal Suggests Lakers Swap Veteran Forward for East All-Star

The issue for Dallas is that they don't have Davis or Irving playing for them right now. Irving is out for the year with a torn ACL, and it's unlikely Davis will return without Irving.

Meanwhile, Doncic is thriving with the Lakers. He will be carrying the load a bit for Los Angeles with LeBron James out with an injury.

More Los Angeles Lakers news: Lakers’ Jeanie Buss Acknowledges Team Needs More Than Just Luka Doncic

Vlade Divac Credits Lakers Legend Jerry West For Helping Build International Brand in NBA

For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Lakers, visit Los Angeles Lakers on SI.


Published