The Luka Doncic trade to the LA Lakers continues to generate discussion and discourse around the NBA with each and every game, with the latest one being a hot take.
Luka Doncic’s trade was such a massive event that it often goes under the radar that Anthony Davis is a superstar too, albeit on the slide in terms of age and availability.
Still, he won a ring with the Los Angeles Lakers and for that, the fanbase will always be grateful to him.
However, Colin Cowherd has now said that Doncic’s arrival has transformed one star in Los Angeles who had a tendency to fade into the background.
It is strange to see two players’ careers now linked so closely together and slightly unfair too, because in terms of playing style, the two couldn’t be more different.
The Lakers gave up size to beef up their ball handling and scoring as evidenced by their trying to trade for Mark Williams soon after the trade.
Generally, having a dominant big on the roster makes things easy for the guards to throw the ball to him but in Davis’ case, a guard was not having a good time, as per Colin Cowherd.
Speaking on his podcast, Cowherd said that Doncic’s arrival had him worried for Austin Reaves and if he would have enough touches but what he’s seen is the “most impressive version of the player”.
He added that Reaves struggled to get involved with Davis while Doncic has freed him up to do what he does best.
Cowherd said: “When Luka came, I thought, oh, boy, is he going to get as many touches. Austin Reaves this has been the most impressive he’s been to me. Because I honestly think with Anthony Davis, sometimes there was a sense, and I could be wrong on this, but there was a sense sometimes ‘slow it down’.
“We got a big let’s use him, this is an opportunity for LeBron in this half-court set. Let’s get it to Anthony Davis. And with Luka and LeBron, the tempo feels like it really plays into Austin’s game.
“Because Austin’s a good passer. He likes contact, he likes the ball. He can play off-ball, he moves and I feel strangely, that I thought Luka would be a net negative. I feel like it makes Austin better.”
Reaves has ascended to near All-Star level since the Luka Doncic trade so it’s tempting to put it down to Anthony Davis holding him back.
However, one look at the raw stats paints a different picture because Reaves had been in the middle of a breakout season from the beginning of this year.
| Span | Games | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Before Luka Doncic | 47 | 19.8 | 4.3 | 6.3 |
| After Luka Doncic | 19 | 20.7 | 4.7 | 4.9 |
His 3PT% percentage has hovered around the same 36% mark while there’s a slight uptick in his FG% which might hint at one of two things- his shot is just falling at a better rate in a short sample or he’s taking better shots.
Either way, it is clear that the credit for Reaves’ breakout goes to only one man and that is Reaves himself.
Doncic’s arrival and the noise around the trade have increased the scrutiny around the Lakers so Reaves’ breakout is coming into the spotlight more but the cause of the spotlight is not Doncic and he wasn’t being held back by Davis.
Reaves has arrived regardless of trade.
