Luka Doncic Trade: What does this mean for the NBA?

Image courtesy of The Wall Street Journal

By MaggieMae Dethlefsen

The NBA landscape experienced a pivotal shift with the trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Doncic is an extremely talented, young player and this trade was done without consulting LeBron James; singling transitions away from the influence that LeBron has previously held within the Lakers. Many believe that the Luca trade “isn’t about 2025; it’s about identifying the next Lakers superstar to build the team around.” Singling to other players, fans, and stockholders that the LeBron era is slowly coming to an end. 

    This trade is showing a shift in the league as a whole away from cornerstone players like LeBron, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Joel Embiid and moving teams towards younger players as those new cornerstones so that they are able to usher in the era of the NBA. With the logistics like age and injuries, these players continue to be great they struggle to help the teams remain competitive teams. Many see the trade as Doncic’s chance to revitalize the Lakers and even get them a championship win. We see these changes being made in other teams as well like: Oklahoma City Thunder, The Boston Celtics, The New York Knicks, and others. We see that Oklahoma City has pushed their new MVP Shai Gilgeous- Alexander as the face to try and re-engage fans and push younger players, showing the reign of new players over the icons that are still playing. Though with waning influence for the decade-long cornerstone players, it calls into question whether they are in their final seasons. LeBron’s contract with the Lakers will come to an end after 2025-2026 brings into question whether players such as LeBron, Curry, and others will resign. 

With a trade this sudden and unexpected it was one that also shocked Dallas Maverick fans, because they had a player like Luka and received Anthony Davis, and though while also a great player he is seven years older than Luka. Even with him being a top 5-10 player it still shocked fans that the Makericks would trade someone who provides the chance for a longer term future that comes from a player in their 20’s for one that is not at the same caliber and older.  Though Nico Harrison and the decision makers “were worried about giving that much money to a player who it seems they didn’t trust to stay on the court.” Many Maverick fans believe that if Mark Cuban still owned the Mavericks this trade is something that would have never happened, and fans believe that this is “going to struggle to be fans of the Mavericks in the coming weeks and months and years.”

Going forward fans are going to be intently watching to see how this trade plays out for the Lakers and the Mavericks not only for this season, but for seasons coming. With players like Luka becoming the focus of the league, many wait to see the effects of that on teams, trades, and contracts for other players, especially the players we have known and loved for decades. Are their careers closing? NBA fans think that the end is near and that this trade really showed that the LeBron era is truly over and we are entering a new era of the NBA.