The Los Angeles Lakers made an easy trade, swapping out Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic, but getting rid of the center was a good thing despite the massive return.
When the Los Angeles Lakers traded away one of the very best players in the world, Anthony Davis, to the Dallas Mavericks, the return would have to be huge to justify such a deal. By adding Luka Doncic into the fold, the Lakers look the part of title contenders, even without their franchise big man, and were clearly the winner of the historical trade.
With Doncic, the Lakers have surged up the standings and were briefly in second place in the Western Conference before LeBron James got injured. Once he returns, the trio of him, Doncic, and Austin Reaves is expected to take the NBA by storm.
While adding Doncic was clearly a massive win for the Lakers, getting Davis out of James’ way so far has seemed to be an added and overlooked benefit of the deal.
“I felt Anthony Davis was in LeBron’s way,” claimed Marcus Morris on a Yahoo! Sports podcast earlier this week. “Because LeBron’s really a four now. And that’s the position that Anthony Davis wanted to play. He was always on the box. He wasn’t really stretching the three that well.”
Usually, a take slamming a top player would be met with criticism, but one of the sporting world’s most famous figures, Stephen A. Smith, agreed.
Stephen A. Smith is not one to hold back his criticisms, especially about LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, but he will easily admit that the trade for Doncic will bring out the best of James.
In the 11 games James and Doncic have played together, the Lakers went 8-3 and looked the part of the best duo in the league, exactly as advertised.
“I think that that was an excellent analysis on the part of Marcus Morris,” credited Smith on ESPN.
“Luka Doncic coming to our team, being able to draw attention from defenses is going to free up others to shoot 3s.
“And one of those people is going to include LeBron James, who’s essentially your wideout because he gets to operate more in open space. He gets to play bully ball when he wants to because he’s 6-9, 260, or he gets to step outside because he’s improved his 3-point shot.
“And oh, by the way, he’s having more uncontested three-point shots than he ever has had in a Lakers uniform.”
When Davis was playing, the Lakers were still a good team, but James was tasked with playing multiple offensive roles while Davis was immensely talented but one-dimensional.
While there’s no doubt that James will benefit a lot from playing next to Doncic and won’t have to do as much on the offensive end, one can easily argue that Doncic would have that effect on anyone in the NBA.
“AD is getting slighted in this conversation in a way that I don’t know that I love,” countered Monica McNutt. “Look, the fit is better with Luka Doncic, I’ll give you that. LeBron James in the fourth position is fantastic, it’s great, we love it.”
While James can slot into a more natural position, any star can elevate their game by focusing on their strengths, which is a luxury finally afforded to James after being the clear-cut first option in Los Angeles and on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Not since his time with the Miami Heat has he been able to coast thanks to his teammate’s dominance.
“Luka’s talents are exactly what this team needs, but there are 29 other teams in the league that probably will say the same thing,” McNutt continued. “Luka Doncic is that type of talent. He’s gonna open it up for whoever he plays alongside.”
Of course, perhaps no one in the league has the drive or IQ to immediately absorb a superstar onto his team as LeBron James does, and seeing the Doncic and James play together in the postseason–or at least for more than 11 games–will put an end to the conversation.
