If fans’ first reaction to the report of a trade is: “Is this for real?”, you know something major has gone down.
But that was exactly the case as the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick, with the Utah Jazz helping facilitate as a third team.
Yet, to describe Saturday’s late-night deal as a “blockbuster” may be underselling the move. In fact, in the immediate aftermath of the news coming down, people were wondering if the swap is the biggest trade in sports history — of course, another Los Angeles team made a deal for some guy named Wayne Gretzky 37 years ago.
Doncic, still just 25 years old, is on pace to become one of basketball’s all-time great offensive players. He’s less than one year removed from taking the Mavericks to the NBA Finals, leading the league in scoring and finishing third in MVP voting.
In his seven seasons, the Slovenian guard has averaged 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game.
Now, once he returns from a calf injury that has kept him out since Christmas Day, Doncic will team up with LeBron James in Los Angeles.
The seemingly out-of-nowhere stunner lit up social media, as the sports world tried to wrap its head around what just transpired. Here are some of the top reactions to the Lakers landing their newest star:
