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The Luka Doncic Trade: One Year Later · Bleacher Report

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: What the It's one of those where were you when moments?
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Either you were awake at twelve twelve.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Am Eastern Time, or you woke up in the morning
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: to your phone absolutely blowing up. Luka Doncic was traded
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, an All Star. It
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: didn't matter. It will forever be known as the Luca Trade.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: A trade's so insane that the person who reported it
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: had to insist he wasn't hacked, And somehow it only
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: got weirder from here. It's been one year since the
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: most shocking trade in NBA history.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Let's look back.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: At all of the madness that has happened since. To
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: understand the insanity of this trade, we have to back
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: up to the twenty twenty four NBA Playoffs, just months
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: before the Sham's notification of all Sham's notifications at Dallas,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Maverick's defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Final
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: to advance to the NBA Finals, led by twenty five
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: year old superstar Luka Doncic, face of the franchise, Heart
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: of the City, generational superstar Luka Doncic, Sure they ultimately
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: lost to the number one seeded Celtics, but just making
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the finals in the first place as a five seed
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: was a huge accomplishment.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: It was a run to be proud of. The future
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: was bright.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: The Kyrie trade, which many people mocked at the time,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: didn't look so bad after all, and they had Luca
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: freaking Donchic. Flash forward to February second, twenty twenty five,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: halfway through the mav season. Everything falls apart in an instant.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Here's how shocking the notification was. When Sham's first broke
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: the news that Luca was traded, he had to do
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: a follow up tweet saying, yes, this is real. Multiple
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: NBA players were asking if he was hacked. Never before
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: has a trade caused NBA players to hop online flabbergasted.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: We have footage of the.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Warriors reacting from an event. Anthony Edwards pleaded to the
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: Wolves not to trade him.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Everyone wasn't disbelieve.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: The biggest trade at twenty five.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: They traded probably.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: The best an NBA at twenty five. The sentiment from
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: players and fans was the same. If Luca was being traded,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: no one was safe. Let me reiterate that Anthony Davis
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: is a great basketball player. He's fantastic but the outrage
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: in confusion is simply a testament to how obscene it
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: is to trade a franchise superstar who has beloved in
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: your city and just led you to the NBA Finals.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: And there were no leaks, no reports. It truly came
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: out of nowhere. Meanwhile, MAVs fans are absolutely shattered, outraged, confused.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: How could this happen? Did something happen that we didn't
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: know about? Literally, there's no other logical explanation to trade him,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: let alone getting no picks. This is when the report
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: start to come out.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: At the end of the day.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: It seems like one man really spearheaded this entire thing.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Nico Harrison, The man that Mark Cuban hired is MAVs
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: GM in twenty twenty one. The same Mark Cuban who
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: once said, if I ever had to choose between my
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: wife and keeping Luca on the MAVs, catch me at
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: the lawyer's office preparing for a divorce. But Mark Cuban
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: is not the owner of the MAVs anymore. He sold
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: it in twenty twenty three. Nico Harrison, someone unknown to
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: the casual NBA fan became so infamous from.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: This trade that people just started calling him Nico. He
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: literally got Beyonce and for.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Being so hated by MAVs mans, Nico Harrison immediately becomes
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: the main character in the story because ultimately there was
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: no drama brewing where Luca actually wanted to leave. No,
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: he said in his goodbye letter that he thought he
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: was going to stay in Dallas forever. Luca was shattered,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: and the more Nico reveals about the trade, the more
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: absurd the whole thing is. Nico confirms that he didn't
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: shop Luca at all, didn't test the trade market.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: Let me be clear, you don't trade.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Luca, but if you do, you have to test the
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: trade market. Desmond Bane, who I love, got four first
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: round picks.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: Franchises would have offered.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Unthinkable things if they knew Luca and Doncic was available,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: but Nico only spoke to the Laker, and when he
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: brought the trade to Laker's GM, Rob.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: Polinka, Polenka laughed at him. Nico admits this.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: Apparently a reason he didn't call other teams was that
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: he wanted to keep the whole thing so that Luca
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: wouldn't request a trade. Basically, he wanted to blindside him,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: and he did. Luca revealed in a sitjohn with Malika
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Andrews that he threw and shattered his phone when the
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: trade came out. His insistence that he wanted to be
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: a mav forever only made the wound worse.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: For MAVs fans.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: So immediately as MAVs fans protest in the street and
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: the world mocks them, there were literal businesses using this
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: trade for marketing purposes, the MAVs start to leak things.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Luca was out of shape.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the MAVs didn't want to extend him because they
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: were concerned about his health and his.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Taste for beer and hookah. Even now, if it just
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: feels insane to say so, these smears.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Start to come out beer hookah, worried about his conditioning,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: and Nico keeps on repeating defense wins championships.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: You were just in the finals. And here's the irony.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: If health really is your biggest concern with Luca, it
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: makes no sense to trade him for a thirty one
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: year old, injury prone Anthony Davis. Immediately after the trade,
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: everything on ravels for the MAVs.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: Everyone gets injured.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Kyrie Tears' acl Anthony Davis, what do you know can't
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: stay healthy.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: In his debut, he was absolutely.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: Dominating until he went out with injury. Fans are chanting
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Fire Nico at games, they're holding up fire Nico signs
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: on the jumbo tron, they're chanting, and even when their
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: players are at the free throw line.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: PJ. Washington actually called this out, all that.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Fire Nico stuff was singing, tired of hearing, and we
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: just want to go out there and play it. We
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: want the fans to support us, no matter who's in
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: the floor. It's a mess, and behind the scenes the heat.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Is being felt.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: Apparently, Dumont started to get frustrated with Nico Harrison.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: According to reports, he.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: Didn't know how outraged MAVs fans would be and no
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: longer saw Nico as a figure with your approachable basketball expertise.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: Yet still, despite.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: Pleas from fans, Nico stays employed. When Luca makes his
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: debut in La MAVs Legend, Dirk is in the crowd.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Let's talk for a second about Dirt. It's not often
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: that a superstar is drafted by a franchise, stays with
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: that franchise forever and leads them to a championship. Dirk
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: is a hero in Dallas, and many fans saw Luca.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: As his predecessor. The fact that he showed up in.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: LA to support Luca in his first game speaks volumes,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: and Nico keeps throwing shade at Luca's conditioning. When asked
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: about it, Luca's response is simply, it's sad the way
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: he's talking right now. The first match up between the
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: Lakers and the MAVs is.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: In LA and Nico pulls up.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Him and Pelinka are just standing on the court, laughing
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: and giggling. During warm ups. Nico is standing on the
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: court just staring at Luca like a supervillain. And of course,
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: Luca drops a triple double and the Lakers win the game.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: And then comes Luca's first game back in American Airline Center.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: When they play his tribute video on the JumboTron, Luca
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: is sobbing.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: It's devastating.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Here's a guy who clearly thought he was going to
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: be in this place forever and he is just so
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: visibly shaken up, and all throughout the game, fans are
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: chanting to fire Nico. It really seems like all hope
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: is lost in Dallas. But then something insane happens the
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: MAVs end up missing the playoffs because while they traded
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: their best player and everybody got hurt, and somehow, with
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: one point eight percent odds, they got the number one
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: pick in the NBA draft. This isn't just any NBA draft, No,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: not all NBA drafts are created equal. The year before
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: the number one pick was not going to alter any franchises.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry, Zachary and Resache.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: This is the year the generational prospect, Cooper Flag is
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: set to join the NBA. So after the MAVs get
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: the pick, Nico Harrison says, fortune favors the Bold. You
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: can't make this up. In any other scenario, a fan
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: base would be over the moon. MAVs fans don't know
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: how to feel. It's like they just get this prize
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: for getting their hearts ripped out. On one hand, they're happy,
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: but how excited can they be when they're still mourning.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: Their beloved superstar and how did this whirlwind of a
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: season is over?
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Luca is doing when anyone who just got dumped and
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: body shamed would do working on his revenge.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Body, but he does this in the most epic way possible.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: He gets on the cover of men's health. He said, Oh,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: you think I'm unhealthy, how about I just It's become
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: the picture of how Cooper goes to Dallas. But this
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: still doesn't stop the fire Nico chance. At one point,
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Cooper's mom even tweets about it.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: The noise is just so loud.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: At this point, Patrick Dumont clearly has no other choice.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: One month into the season, he finally does it. He
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: fires Nico Harrison. MAVs fans rejoice. Luca returns to Dallas
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: to play against Cooper flag for the first time. Before
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: the game, he hosts a private suite with MAVs fans
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: whom he saw showing love to him online and gives
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: them gifts. Meeting them before the game, energy and the
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: arena is already much better than the game before. It
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: helps that nobody's chanting for anybody to be fired. There's
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: this surreal visual of Luca walking towards the MAVs tunnel
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: at halftime, clearly muscle memory, and then remembering that he's
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: no longer on the team and turning around. MAVs fans
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: are still heartbroken, and moments like that do really make
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: it worse. But it helps that the man who orchestrated.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: The whole thing is no longer with the team, and
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: that Cooper flag is obviously going to be an incredible
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: Here's the most important thing to remember. This trade was
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: an epic failure. Getting Cooper Flagg was not part of
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: Nico's plan. There was no good reason to do what
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: the MAVs did, trading a beloved, young and generational superstar
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: a year after he led you to the finals, not
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: even shopping him, blindsiding him receiving no picks. This is
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: undeniably the most shocking trade in NBA history, and honestly,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who didn't call
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: it the most shocking trade in sports history.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: It truly altered the course of
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: Not only two franchises, but an entire league forever