Never did anyone think prior to this past Saturday that Luka Doncic would be leaving the Dallas Mavericks, let alone have the Mavericks be the one that pushes him out of town, but now that the dust is settling, it's starting to sink in that the 25-year-old Slovenian star is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. In Doncic's way out of the Mavericks, general manager Nico Harrison didn't exactly cover himself in glory, pointing to Doncic's lack of conditioning and defensive shortcomings as the main reasons for why they traded him away.

Nonetheless, Doncic is just looking to use the slights being thrown his way as motivation. After all, all of the criticisms levied towards him aren't anything the Lakers star hasn't heard in the past.

“That's fine. I've been questioned many many times in my life. Just another motive to be more prepared for myself and just take another road. I've been questioned a lot. I'm used to it. But it's a job. It's a business. I'm just happy to be here, you know. Play basketball. That's all I want,” Doncic told Jared Greenberg of TNT.

It's not as if Doncic needed more motivation to be a better player. Perhaps there is room for him to grow from a conditioning perspective, but when has that prevented him from performing when it matters the most? It's Luka Doncic — and the Lakers must have been thanking their lucky stars that he was made available to them and only them.

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And with the Lakers pulling off a trade for Mark Williams as well, the best is yet to come for the Doncic-led Purple and Gold.

Can the Lakers pull off the unthinkable in Luka Doncic's first half-season with the team?

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Not too many considered the Lakers as a legitimate championship contender prior to the Luka Doncic trade, but now, some will have to think about the possibility that they break through this season — especially with LeBron James playing reinvigorated basketball.

There aren't any players scarier to face in a playoff series than Doncic and James (other than a healthy Kawhi Leonard), and now, the Lakers have both of them on the same team. There will be an adjustment period, especially when Doncic and James are used to having the ball in their hands often, but make no mistake about it, no playoff team would want to face this duo especially early on in the postseason.