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The shocking trade sending Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers and Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks stunned just about everyone around the NBA including many people attached to the Mavericks and the Lakers. One of the people who had no idea that the deal was coming was Lakers superstar LeBron James.
While James didn't expect the trade and it is a major shakeup for this Lakers team, he understands why it had to be done as Los Angeles starts to peek into its future when James inevitably walks away from the game at some point in the coming years. However, he had one big concern after the news broke, and it had nothing to do with what was happening on the basketball court according to Fred Katz, Joe Vardon and Sam Amick of The Athletic.
“He was shocked when he was informed of the trade by his agent Rich Paul, who also represents Davis, while at dinner with his family in New York after recording a triple-double in a win over the Knicks on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden,” the trio wrote. “James’ chief concern, according to the same league source, was Davis’ emotions following the trade. Otherwise, James viewed it as a ‘business decision' the Lakers needed to make, and not just because he wanted roster changes. The future will soon be here in which James is no longer involved.”
Of course, moving off of the 31-year old Davis — even with as well as he has played over the last two seasons — for a 25-year old superstar in Doncic makes perfect sense for a franchise that is starting to think about how it will remain relevant and compete for championships in the post-James era.
In the present, Doncic and James will be an interesting fit together. They both play a similar style, although they get to it in different ways, so it will be interesting to see how James adapts his game to play alongside the Slovenian star. With the Lakers already sitting in a good position in the Western Conference standings, nobody will want to see a duo of James and Doncic when the postseason rolls around.
