Mavericks disrespectful trade opens door for Spurs to acquire Luka Doncic

If you're Luka Doncic, don't you feel disrespected? You've taken this franchise to the playoffs four of the last five years, the conference finals two of the previous three, and the NBA Finals less than one calendar year ago. The one year they didn't make it was an intentional tank job for the off-chance they'd win the draft lottery and get Victor Wembanyama. (A silly gamble)

To be traded under the table like some cancerous diva who doesn't do his job is shocking, and if you're him, it's probably infuriating, too. We've all seen how Luka gets on the court when you get under his skin. He'll wolf at players, refs, and fans; he doesn't care. He turns into an unstoppable monster and lets you hear about it with an obscenity-laced attack with the same vitriol as his deadly stepback.

A man like that could want revenge. Doncic will be a free agent in 2026, and as CBS writer Sam Quinn points out, retaining the Slovenian hooper is not a sure thing for Los Angeles.

The Mavs are taking a huge risk by trading Luka Doncic

Dallas is betting they have a shot to win the championship this year. Before Luka's injury, they were a top seed in the conference but have since slipped. Doncic was reportedly due to return soon, but apparently, that didn't mean much to the Mavs. They were too concerned about paying him the supermax or losing him to free agency in 2026.

Luka is widely regarded as one of the top three players in the league. I'm not sure what's stressful about paying him the supermax. It's kind of what you do for those guys. The second part of the statement is also baffling. Great players are always coveted around the league. Teams can want Luka until they're blue in the face, but if they just re-sign him, everything is fine. It doesn't make sense.

Every year that the Mavs don't win the Finals, starting right now, their chances of doing so are greatly reduced simply due to the age and history of their core players. Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis have been injured in their careers way too often to believe they'll be healthier on the other side of 30.

There's no guarantee the Lakers keep Luka

Los Angeles hasn't been the same since the late Dr Jerry Buss, former Lakers owner, passed away in 2013. They've been a deeply unserious organization, consistently making poor decisions. This is a front office who seems to believe that Austin Reaves should be untouchable.

Just because LA GM Rob Pelinka was smart enough to say "yes" to Luka Doncic doesn't mean they've turned a corner. They're likely hoping the appeal of playing in LA and alongside their new acquisition will be enough to bring free agents to the franchise, but that is not a guarantee.

And even so, Doncic is from Slovenia, and international players are not usually as enamored with big markets. The former Mav could simply wait out his contract and head back to Texas next summer, intending to sign with the San Antonio Spurs.

He would get to play with Victor Wembanyama, who would be the best player in the league by that time. He gets back to a state with no state income tax, where the cost of living is much more affordable, and he gets the bonus of sticking it to the Mavericks by joining their interstate rival.

Some of you will believe this is an impossibly unlikely scenario, but I'd argue so was the Mavericks trading the best player they've ever had at the age of 25 to the damn Lakers. It seems Kevin Garnett's "anything is possible" proclamation was more prophecy than a simple declaration.