Austin Reaves has been reflecting on the shocking moment the news came that the LA Lakers had traded for Luka Doncic.
The Luka Doncic trade rocked the NBA and changed the timelines for projected success for both the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers.
It was a move that has lifted the Lakers, with the team now occupying third spot in the Western Conference, with Luka Doncic, and the team are now being viewed as serious title contenders.
The move was so surprising that the man who broke the news, Shams Charania admitted his hands were shaking when he posted the information online.
The move was a shocking one for the players involved. The Lakers sent Anthony Davis and Max Christie to the Dallas Mavericks to acquire Luka Doncic.
Christie claimed he was literally floored by the stunning news and was in denial for around two hours.
The news came hours after the Lakers defeated the New York Knicks on the road, with a crushing 128-112 win over a fully healthy home team.
Most impressively the Lakers achieved this win without Anthony Davis, who was sidelined with an injury sustained days earlier against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Speaking to ESPN, Lakers star Austin Reaves has disclosed his final conversation with LeBron James before the stunning trade news broke. He admitted he was excited about the potential of the Lakers’ team as it stood, with Anthony Davis set to return.
Reaves explained: “Me and Bron were talking in the locker room after the game,
“It was like, if we play like that and add AD to that, we could be dangerous.”
Shortly after the Lakers received the news Anthony Davis had been traded away to the Dallas Mavericks, with Luka Doncic coming the other way, and everything changed.
What Reaves alluded to was a question we will never find out the answer to, how good could the 2024-25 Lakers have been with Anthony Davis?
The Lakers chose not to find out, bringing in a player who was six years younger, bringing in a greater long-term chance of success, and possibly a short-term one too.
Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic are striking up a great connection on the Lakers, even though their chemistry will take a little time to really hit heights.
This past week Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka explained that Austin Reaves was at the forefront of his mind when making the trade, excited to see him link up with Luka Doncic.
While NBA insider Brian Windhorst slammed the Dallas Mavericks ‘malpractice’ for failing to land Reaves in the trade.
This really would have been a shock for Reaves, who was talking about a great future on the Lakers. Being traded away to Dallas along with Davis would have been an even tougher piece of news to digest.
