The Luka Doncic Trade Represents The Worst Of NBA Fandom
Luka Doncic traded to the Lakers for Anthony Davis—another win for big-market teams. What does this mean for NBA parity and smaller franchises?
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I woke up at 4am on Sunday. This is not unusual during the work week when I try to get to the gym before my shift and I was hoping to sleep in this weekend. Through my grogginess, I checked my phone to see news of the Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis trade. I’m not going to go over the full trade details here; no one reading this is learning about it for the first time through this blog. And I was shocked.
There is nothing I, a non-Lakers fan, like about this deal. First, some disclaimers. While this is a Timberwolves-centric space, I have not considered myself a fan since the Jimmy Butler stuff went down. By then, the Wolves had become a job and Butler’s messy exit killed whatever remaining shreds of my childhood fandom. Be careful turning your passions into work, folks. But there are still players and people who work for the team I still like, so I can appreciate them to write about them as my life allows. That’s my disclaimer.
The NBA’s Big-Market Bias
With that out of the way, a big rub I’ve had with NBA fandom has been the growing feeling that despite the NBA having six different champions in six years, it feels like few teams and markets matter as much as ever. I want to live in an NBA world where teams like Minnesota, Memphis and other small-to-midsize markets team can contend for a sustained period when every star who wants to leave, say, a team like Portland, immediately angles for one of Los Angeles, Miami or Brooklyn. You know, the glamour markets.
Do the players always get that wish? No, they for sure don’t, but it’s clear that the vast majority of players view most of the other franchises as undesirable real estate.
Sure, many people are Lakers fans but to steal a line from Drew Magary, many more people are not. The Lakers missed the playoffs six straight years but still landed Davis from New Orleans six months after signing LeBron James and then won a championship. That was after 60 years of Jerry West and Elgin Baylor to Kareem to Magic Johnson to Shaq and Kobe. Oh, no. They had to wait six years before another contending window opened and as that one shut they get Luka fucking Doncic. Ugh.
The Lakers' Unmatched Fortune
I know, I know, this sounds like me crying about fairness or whining, but no other franchise has this kind of fortune. The Lakers just got a perennial MVP candidate at age 25 for an aging star, a rotation player (Max Christie) and a first-round pick that will convey right as Luka turns 30. Fair or unfair, this is even greater fortune than the Lakers getting Pau Gasol for pennies on the dollar.
This is not to say the Lakers are immediately title contenders. Luka is hurt now, the team is lacking a center and it’s unclear how well they’ll defend with Luka, 40-year-old LeBron and Austin Reaves on the perimeter. Jarred Vanderbilt and Dorian Finney-Smith aren’t going to solve all those issues.
So, there’s all that but then ESPN reports that Luka did not ask for the trade and Mavs decision maker Nico Harrison made this move under his own volition. These trades never go down like this. Usually the news gets out and the team shops the player, but that did not happen here by all accounts. It’s not like you look at this and say “Well, they got an offer they couldn’t refuse” when there was just one draft pick when the Lakers had multiple available, and no swaps included.
Somehow LeBron nor Luka expected the trade.
“I believe that defense wins championships,” Mavs GM Nico Harrison told ESPN regarding his motivation to trade Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis. “I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We’re built to win now and in the future.”
What This Means for the Mavericks
Now, the Mavericks move forward with Kyrie Irving in his early 30s, dealing with back issues, Davis, also in his early 30s and hurt again, and 34-year-old Klay Thompson who has a significant injury history. This team is now old and owe 11 future firsts and seconds between this year’s and the 2031 draft. How does this help them win more now and in the future, especially with no Luka.
The Lakers may not win this year either but having Luka gives them the cornerstone piece that is arguably the most difficult to acquire in building a contender. And they have the runway to figure it out unless Luka pulls a Dwight Howard and refuses to extend with the Lakers.
This sucks most for Mavericks fans and incrementally less for everyone else who is not a Lakers fans. The league wants to hold up that we’re in an era of parity, but look at how drastic Sam Presti had to act over the last six years to build this Thunder team. Even in the last six years, three of those champions are the Warriors, Lakers and Celtics. This is not to say that these franchises can never be good and maybe this is just reality, but the playing field is not level. Maybe those advantages are built in for the blue bloods. The margins for error for franchises like Minnesota, Oklahoma City and Cleveland are so much smaller than it is for these franchises in glamour markets. Even Miami, who seem to be in a perilous position with Jimmy Butler, will probably be atop the list of the next disgruntled superstar.
Parity in the NBA? Not Really.
For years I tried to argue that all 30 franchises matter equally and they just don’t. They should but they don’t. The Luka Doncic trade represents the worst of NBA fandom. Unless you’re a fan of a team in one of these destination markets, you better love the game because you will likely end up disappointed, save for a Toronto, Milwaukee or Denver-type pop-up run. And good luck keeping that group together under the new CBA.
Sorry, this is not a league meant for the Charlotte Hornets’ of the world to reasonably build a dynasty. Even if the team did everything right, the new system would make keeping that team together incredibly difficult. Hell, Dallas is the third-biggest media market in the country and they can’t even get guys to want to go there; it’s not a glamour destination.
We have learned there are some things you cannot legislate out of the game: players wanting to play in some places more than others and teams making boneheaded decisions. It sure seems that is what happened this past weekend.