The Luka Trade Is Already More of a Disaster Than We Initially Thought As Anthony Davis Is Already Hurt And Could Be Out For Up To A Month

Tim Heitman. Getty Images.

I don't really care who your favorite NBA team is, at this point it feels nearly impossible not to be sympathetic to Mavs fans at a time like this. They had to watch their favorite team bail on their homegrown 25 year old MVP candidate for no reason by executing what most people consider the worst trade in NBA history. They had to watch their team be the latest franchise to simply hand over a generational talent to the LAKERS of all teams which I imagine didn't sit all that well. 

If anything, they deserved at least some sort of bright spot in this whole ordeal, and for a moment, the Anthony Davis Mavs debut looked to be something that Mavs fans could at least hang their hat on and feel somewhat excited about. He was incredible on both ends of the floor and gave those fans a preview of the type of two way play that comes with being in the Anthony Davis business

In some ways, you saw the vision of what the Mavs are now going to attempt to build. It's a tricky spot because this whole thing has to be super awkward for both AD and Max Christie. They didn't choose this, they are both good player, hell AD can even be great, but when you're the other end of the Luka Doncic trade nobody really gives a shit. That pain is still too fresh.

What Mavs fans saw in that first half was what I would all the best case scenario when it comes to AD. The defense, the rim protection, the midrange, he was making 3s, it was everything I'm sure Nico Harrison was hoping for. But as we know, there are two sides of the coin when it comes to AD. There's the dominant two way player like you see above, and then there's the other reality

I mean come on. Haven't Mavs fans suffered enough? Kind of a dick move by the Basketball Gods if we're being honest. Things are tough enough having to come to the realization that Luka is gone and on the Lakers, but to get that type of AD debut only for it to be ripped away due to a non-contact injury? That just feels like piling on and really twisting the knife.

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When we first learned about this trade, everyone pretty much all said the same thing. Why would you trade a 25 year old MVP candidate and franchise player for an injury-prone 31 year old who was already hurt at the time of the trade? None of it made any sense and it took all of 3 quarters of basketball for the other shoe to drop. AD tried to downplay the injury after the game (which was expected), but in the event you missed the news during the Super Bowl yesterday……it's not great

And this…..is why you don't make that trade. It has nothing to do with AD's talent or his skillset, both of which are awesome. But seeing as how health is already a giant red flag with AD and he's only getting older, big guys tend to not age all that gracefully from a health perspective, and you could tell AD probably came back a little too quickly from his previous injury all in an effort to win over his new fanbase. I understand why he'd do something like that, but unfortunately something like this is what tends to happen when you rush back from injury.

So in a way, it took just 1 game for Mavs fans to get the full AD experience. On the court? He can be incredible. A dominant two way monster who can look like the best player on the planet for stretches. But with that comes the injury that is ultimately unavoidable. Again I'm not even a Mavs fan and I'm sick for that fanbase. You finally start to move on and get behind your new franchise player, and the one thing I think every Mavs fan was worried about happened in his very first game. That's fucked. 

Now, without AD for up to a month (or longer), there's a real possibility that the Mavs fall entirely out of the Play In. They are up just 1 in the loss column over GS (11 seed). If AD is going to miss a month, one look at the Mavs schedule tells you there are a lot of important H2H matchups on the horizon when it comes to the 7-11 seeds

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To make things even worse, tonight is Luka's debut with the Lakers. Magically, he's ready to roll after his calf injury that had kept him out of the Mavs lineup since Christmas. We all know how that's going to go right? He's going to look awesome while Mavs fans are left with nothing but their dick in their hands. That's tough. Your trade piece was awesome and then immediately got hurt, putting him out for a month, meanwhile your arch nemesis is about to enjoy the shit out of Luka Doncic doing Luka Doncic things. It all feels wildly unfair, but also rather predictable. I don't think anyone is shocked that AD got hurt and is going to be sidelined for a while, it's the first thing everyone talked about when this trade first happened!

So in some ways, it's another fuck you to Nico Harrison for ruining things for no reason. Even the Basketball Gods couldn't believe he would do something like that. But at the end of the day, I keep going back to Mavs fans. I'm not sure any fanbase in sports had a worst week from Sunday to Sunday than Mavs fans, and my advice would be to simply avoid the internet and TV for the next 24-48 hours while the sports world gushes over Lakers Luka. You've suffered enough.