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The Dallas Mavericks will never be able to escape what they did on that February evening in 2025 when they abruptly ended the Luka Dončić era in a way that still makes fans sick. You can list a thousand reasons off the top of your mind as to why they should regret it (hey, at least they have Cooper!), and you can add another after the Lakers landed Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade earlier this month.
As Marc Stein of The Stein Line wrote on Sunday, Los Angeles justified Kessler's price tag by what it didn't have to give up (subscription required) for Dončić.
Yet I'm told that the Lakers were emboldened to go to such lengths to acquire Kessler in large part because they acquired Luka Dončić from Dallas on such favorable terms in February 2025.
The Lakers sent an unprotected 2031 first-round pick, an unprotected 2033 first-round pick, a 2028 first-round pick swap, and a 2030 first-round pick swap to the Jazz for Kessler.
Almost as soon as the news was reported, the majority labeled it as an overpay. I mean, Los Angeles gave up more for the 24-year-old than it did for the superstar guard who led Dallas to the NBA Finals less than a year before, but that's also what gave the Lakers the push to get the center.
Lakers were thinking about Doncic trade when they got Walker Kessler
Of course, Los Angeles had Dončić at the forefront of its mind when going after Kessler, given that the guard asked for a lob threat before he even played in a game for the Lakers. They thought they addressed that by trading for Mark Williams, but we all know how that worked out.
After a season with Deandre Ayton as their primary starting center, the Lakers finally have someone who can grow with them in Kessler.
Whether he will live up to his price tag is another thing, but Los Angeles clearly believes he will. And if not, the front office can justify the move by thinking of what it didn't need to send to Dallas for Dončić, since Nico Harrison didn't seem to care about anything other than getting Anthony Davis.
The thing is, Mavericks fans, of all people, know Dončić's ability to elevate his teammates, and that will be even more so the case when he takes the floor with Kessler. It doesn't take that much imagination to see the trade for the center as one that will work in the Lakers' favor, from how things will look in the pick-and-roll with Luka to his interior defensive presence and rebounding.
When all is said and done, Dallas may look back on the Dončić trade with regret, and on the Kessler one, too, knowing the role the team played in the Lakers getting the center.
When it comes to Luka, the hits probably won't stop coming, but you should've already known that.
Today's best reads
- Lakers just signed the elite defender the Mavericks tried to pair with Luka Doncic
- Sergio De Larrea gives the Mavs as many questions as answers at summer league
- Mavericks get a painful reminder of one of Nico Harrison's mistakes at Summer League
- Mavericks’ Zaccharie Risacher trade just put another deal on the clock
- Mavericks' retooled depth chart finally gives Cooper Flagg what he needs most
This article was originally published on thesmokingcuban.com as Mavericks may have new reason to regret Luka Doncic trade if Lakers' bet pays off.
