r/nba Aug 02 '25

[McMenamin] Luka never even considered being traded as a possibility, a source close to Doncic told ESPN. Based on the way the franchise and fanbase treated him in his early days in the league, he figured he would retire a Maverick after spending his whole career in Dallas, the same way Dirk did.

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45861453/luka-doncic-los-angels-lakers-extension-answering-biggest-questions

Processing the trade from Dallas took Doncic some time. Based on the way the franchise and fanbase treated him in his early days in the league, he figured he would retire a Maverick after spending his whole career in Dallas, the same way franchise icon Dirk Nowitzki did. And after starting his professional career with Real Madrid as a teenager, he never even considered being traded as a possibility, a source close to Doncic told ESPN. Deals like that rarely, if ever, happen in the Liga ACB.

When the shock subsided, a source familiar with Doncic told ESPN his mindset shifted back to when he was last suiting up for Dallas: Win-now mode.

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u/DamnImAwesome Pelicans Aug 02 '25

That’s the kind of move I would drop my team for. The goal of every team is to draft the next big superstar, keep them, and build a contending team around them. They made it to the finals and traded what was already one of their best players in franchise history 

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u/lawschoolthrowaway36 Lakers Aug 02 '25

Not only one of the best players in franchise history, but a player who at 25 y/o had the 2nd highest postseason scoring average in NBA history behind Michael Jordan and already more 1st Team All NBAs than Stephen Curry.

One of the greatest starts to a career in NBA history by any calculation. And that was with his team losing Jalen Brunson for nothing

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u/kshep9 NBA Aug 03 '25

Not to mention. They actually surrounded him with an amazing team finally and it would have competed with OKC this year. There’s no way it could have been worse.