Lakers appreciate Luka Doncic more than the Mavericks ever did

Luka Doncic (YouTube)

The Los Angeles Lakers made National Basketball Association headlines on Saturday when they came to terms with guard Luka Doncic of Ljubljana, Slovenia on a three-year contract extension worth $165 million according to the Associated Press. The contract agreement proves the Lakers belief in Doncic as a premier player in the Association, and you could make the argument that the Lakers’s appreciation of Doncic’s overall skills significantly exceeds the Mavericks’s overall appreciation, when he was in the Lone Star state for seven years from 2018 to earlier this calendar year.

What made the Mavericks want to trade Doncic to Los Angeles is still gobsmacking six months after this blockbuster transaction occurred. Mavericks management seemed to not only undervalue Doncic, who was a principal player in helping Dallas reach the NBA Finals in 2024, (and led the NBA in scoring in 2023-24 while with the Mavericks with a career-high 33.9 points per game), but overvalue the skillset of power forward Anthony Davis of Chicago, Illinois, who is past his prime and injury prone.

Now, the Lakers struggled defensively in the postseason in their opening series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. In the offseason, they made some key acquisitions in Marcus Smart and DeAndre Ayton, in an attempt to prevent the number of points their opponents score on the floor per game.

This past season with the Lakers, Doncic averaged 28.2 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game, 7.5 assists per game and 1.6 steals per game. He has a field goal percentage of .438, three point percentage of .379, and free throw percentage of .791.