Trading Luka Doncic puts Dallas Mavericks in Babe Ruth or Wayne Gretzky ‘curse’ territory | Opinion
Luka to the Lakers feels like a Babe. Not the good kind. We’re looking at a potential “The Curse of Luka” on the Dallas Mavericks.
Mark Cuban made his share of mistakes, but few owners in the history of any sport appreciated, and fawned over, generational talent like he did.
It is highly doubtful, but the former owner of the Mavericks may have approved a trade of Luka Doncic. Cuban did let Steve Nash and Jalen Brunson walk for nothing.
Cuban would never have signed off on a deal where the team he loves received so little in return. Cuban’s involvement with the team now is periphery, at best, and a player he loved is now a Laker.
Cuban approved the draft day trade with the Atlanta Hawks to acquire Doncic in 2018, and almost immediately everyone with the Mavs realized they had their next Dirk Nowitzki.
Only Dirk is Dirk, and Doncic’s days in Dallas are done. There will be no Luka statue next to Dirk in front of the next building the Dallas Mavericks reside.
The Mavs are now run completely by general manager Nico Harrison, who looks and sounds like a man who does not appreciate the scale of the trade he just made. Mavericks fans are angry in a way that people around here reserve for Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys.
For Mavs fans, and a lot of North Texans, Luka was a positive point of identification in their own lives. He was “ours.” Now, he’s not.
“Patrick (Dumont), he’s the owner, the ultimate decision-maker, but he entrusts in (coach Jason Kidd) and I to run this team,” Harrison said during a press conference on Sunday afternoon in Cleveland before the team was blown out by the Cavaliers. “At some point, if it doesn’t work out, I’ll be judged for that.”
Judged? Go with sentenced. If the Mavs do not win a title with AD, and Doncic does in L.A., Harrison will wear this deal like a Mike Tyson face tattoo. Instead of fancy art work around the eye, the tat’ will read, “I traded Luka Doncic.”
This has the potential to be one of the most infamous trades in the history of any sport.
Think the Boston Red Sox sending Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. The Red Sox dealt Babe to New York January of 1920, and the Red Sox did not win a World Series until 2004.
Think the Edmonton Oilers dealing Wayne Gretzky to the L.A. Kings, in Aug. of 1988.
Think the Milwaukee Bucks trading Kareem Abdul-Jabaar to the L.A. Lakers, in 1975.
Harrison (and Kidd) were clearly frustrated with Luka’s approach to diet, conditioning, defense and exercise. That has been no secret.
Nonetheless, Mavericks employees and front office people had no idea this deal was coming. And those same people can’t figure out why Harrison made this move.
Harrison and Kidd are gambling their careers for the now rather than the later, or the future. They are gambling their careers that AD gives them a presence in the middle to win an NBA title now, and that Luka will age like James Harden.
Not that Mavs fans enjoy this, but there are similarities between Harden and Luka. Both are dynamic scorers and ball handlers who both act like they are going to be in their 20s, well into their 50s.
Before Harden turned 30, he was an MVP candidate and one of the best offensive players in league. Harden’s productivity dropped when he turned 30, when his ability (interest?) to play the majority of the regular season games faded.
There are also striking differences between the two All-Stars, beginning with Luka has never been the type of headache as Harden has been for the many franchises he has played for.
Doncic is only 25, and even if he takes the Harden route he has four years left of MVP-caliber production. This is a player who led the Mavericks to the Western Conference finals twice, and the NBA Finals once.
Expect him to make it his personal mission to punish Harrison, and the Mavericks, for this trade.
The Mavs will throw out as a rationale for this trade that they believed Luka was going to leave in the next year or two as a free agent, even though there was zero indication that he wanted to be anywhere but with the only NBA team he’s ever known.
“I thought I’d spend my career here and wanted so badly to bring you a championship,” Doncic wrote to fans in a letter that he posted on his social media accounts.
If they really thought he was going to leave, why did they say they wanted to build around him, when they signed Klay Thompson in the offseason during free agency?
What really happened is that the GM and coach were tired of Doncic, and believe that with Kyrie Irving as the scorer, and Davis in the middle, it gives the roster balance, and a better chance to win the NBA title.
The only way this deal works for Harrison and Kidd is if the Mavs win their second NBA championship on their watch, and Luka never wins a thing with the Lakers.
“The future to me is three, four years from now. The future 10 years from now, I don’t know,” Harrison said during the press conference on Sunday. “They’ll probably bury me and (Kidd) by then. Or we’ll bury ourselves.”
Nico, have the shovel handy.
This story was originally published February 2, 2025 at 7:16 PM.
