Mavericks/Lakers Luka blockbuster trade benefits Spurs in major way

Luka Doncic has played his way out of Dallas. ESPN's NBA Insider Shams Charania reports that the Dallas Mavericks have traded Luka, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris in a three-team deal with the Lakers and the Utah Jazz.

The NBA community's first assumption was that Shams was hacked. Several reporters locally and nationally wondered aloud if ESPN's top insider was a victim of a cybercrime, but alas, it's true. The Mavericks have decided to punt on Luka Doncic in what they're calling a "win now move."

This is one of those 'out of left field' trades that happen every so often in the sports that nobody sees coming. There weren't the faintest whispers of this deal, but BOOM, there it is. Looking at the landscape after this massive bomb, the Spurs are in a gift/curse scenario here.

One Spurs rival traded annoying futures with another

It's always nice to get one rival out of the picture, but another will be empowered for the long haul. Luka has been a force since he entered the league in 2018. The Spurs beat him and the Mavs all four times they played during his rookie season, but that was the last time they had the upper hand on the Slovenian superstar.

Since Doncic's sophomore season, the Spurs are 3-18 against Dallas. It's almost as if he truly enjoys tormenting San Antonio, averaging 28.7 points, 9.3 assists, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game against them. Get that man out of Texas. The Mavs will have Anthony Davis to pair with Kyrie Irving now, giving them a strong defensive presence and lob threat, but that's much more manageable.

The Mavericks have had a potent offense for a while. Defense has always been lacking, so putting a player like Davis in the middle makes sense when simply talking about the construction of a team.

We know how good AD is. He's going to be a Hall of Famer when all is said and done, so in the immediate aftermath, Dallas will be extremely formidable.

However, they traded a generational talent. Tim McMahon reported that the Mavs basically got tired of dealing with Luka's conditioning issues. He's only played 22 games this year, and some believe his injuries are due to his lack of readiness for the season.

But that's not seeing the big picture. The goal should be to extend your championship window as far as possible, and Dallas shortened theirs with this move. Luka is only 25 years old. They just mortgaged their future for the short run with an aging core between Kyrie and AD. Who knows what the short-term results will be, but the chances of finding another player as special as Doncic are slim.

The Mavs were in the NBA Finals, with Luka leading the charge a short while ago. Giving up on him is certainly a choice and one they'll regret soon enough. But not before San Antonio steps into the picture to take over the division and, eventually, the conference, because if there's anything the Lakers have shown us over the past decade, it's that they still don't know what they're doing.