The Los Angeles Lakers have been widely crowned the winners in the Luka Doncic–Anthony Davis trade, but Shaquille O’Neal believes it is the Dallas Mavericks who have come out on top. During an episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, O’Neal explained why he thinks the Mavericks are the winners.
“I think Dallas has probably won the trade because AD goes into a natural position with better players around him,” O’Neal said. “Of course, you (Lakers) got two top-name players, LeBron (James} and you got Luka. I don’t see who else they got. I don’t see them going far.
“But the Lakers have always been smart,” O’Neal continued. “So, are they preparing for the demise of LeBron and the birth of Luka? That’s another question you have to ask. You hear all these people, ‘Oh, they can’t play together.’ They can play together. Because they both do need the ball a lot but when they do get the ball, they’re going to make great decisions. So, that’s why I think they can play together.
“But they have no size,” O’Neal added. “Both those guys aren’t really great defensive players, so I think Dallas definitely won the trade.”
That’s an odd assessment of the 30-19 Lakers from O’Neal. They aren’t a perfect team by any means, but they do have some good players around Doncic and LeBron James.
Austin Reaves is a pretty good third option on offense as he is averaging 18.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game. Dorian Finney-Smith, meanwhile, is one of the better 3-and-D wings in the NBA and Jarred Vanderbilt is another elite defender.
The Lakers also traded for 7’0″ Mark Williams, so they have some size as well. Williams’ injury history is a concern, though, especially as they don’t have a great backup either. The Lakers would be hoping the injury bug stays away.
So, some of O’Neal’s concerns regarding the Lakers might be unfounded. The one thing he isn’t concerned about is Doncic’s fit next to James as he believes the two will work well together. That isn’t an opinion shared by his good friend Charles Barkley, though.
Barkley doesn’t think the Doncic-James duo is going to work. He pointed to both needing the ball as the reason and it will take these two a bit of time to adjust. With how great they are, you’d expect them to eventually figure things out.
As for the 27-25 Mavericks, they’ll be playing Davis at power forward, his preferred position. They should be able to get the best out of him, but that still wouldn’t mean they’d have won the trade.
Davis at his absolute best isn’t as impactful as Doncic and it’s why this deal made no sense for the Mavericks. There is hardly anyone in the NBA who impacts games the way the Slovenian does and you do not willingly get rid of a generational talent like him. They didn’t get good value for him either, as Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round pick isn’t a good enough haul.
Doncic is reportedly seething at the Mavericks for trading him and O’Neal wants him to destroy his old team when he plays them. The Lakers and Mavericks will be facing off on Feb. 25, and you better believe the entire basketball world will be watching that game.
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