The trade that sent young superstar Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers was so monumental that in its aftermath, it almost felt like the Dallas front office was coming up with justifications for the deal on the fly.
First, there was talk that leadership did not believe their star player would sign a supermax contract, and therefore wanted to deal him while they could still get something in return; but Doncic immediately shut that down. Then there was chatter that general manager Nico Harrison was concerned about Doncic's weight and work ethic; but when he arrived in Los Angeles, fans were quite confused with that claim, as well.
