The Luka Doncic trade just became even more lopsided for the Los Angeles Lakers. With the news that Dallas Mavericks big man Anthony Davis is going to miss significant time due to ligament damage in his left hand, there’s a chance they won’t be able to trade him by the deadline. And if that is the case, the trade looks even better for the Lakers.
Obviously, Davis’ continuous bad injury luck is brutal. No one likes injuries. But the Mavs knew about Davis’ injury concerns when they traded for him. When he’s been healthy this season, Dallas has played well. However, rumors indicated that they wanted to trade him by the deadline in an attempt to focus on the future.
But now, that may not happen.
Mavericks not being able to trade Anthony Davis makes Luka Doncic trade even better for Lakers
If Davis ends up missing months of action, which has been rumored to be the case, then it’s more than likely that teams won’t be too interested in trading for him ahead of this year’s deadline.
And even if the Mavs found a team or two that were interested, they probably wouldn’t get the value they want in a deal because of Davis’ latest injury.
The Mavericks were already staring down a less-than-ideal trade return for Davis. His injury history, age, and contract were never going to produce the trade return the Mavs wanted.
However, now that he may not be playing basketball again until toward the end of the season, teams will probably look elsewhere come February as they look to improve their rosters.
Dallas will be fine. They probably weren’t going to make the playoffs this year anyway, and having Cooper Flagg in town ensures that they are still looking good for the future.
But what if Davis was still in LA? What if this injury had happened as the Lakers were trying to push for the playoffs? The Lakers would be in a much different place.
Maybe Austin Reaves would be taking an even bigger leap, but losing Davis for months may have taken the Lakers out of the race for a top-six spot in the West.
For all of the discussions going on right now about Luka Doncic’s defense, Davis’ injury concerns outweigh all of them. The best ability is availability.
All of Dallas’ potential trade plans to move Davis by the deadline could be in serious danger if he ends up having to miss multiple months of action. That could cost them some significant trade value in a potential Davis deal.
And because of that, all these months later, the trade somehow looks even better for the Lakers.