There are a couple of things you just don’t do in life. You don’t put eggs on pizza. You don’t look at a pig and expect them to fly. You don’t trade away the best player on your team and potentially the best player in the league. All sounds simple enough, right? Try the Dallas Mavericks. 

The Mavericks just traded franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic for a package that basically boils down to Anthony Davis and one first-rounder. Anthony Davis is a good player in his own right. He is one of the best defensive players of this generation and is having a career year amidst dealing with injuries. He is averaging 25 points and 11 rebounds this season playing alongside Lebron James. Generally speaking, this is a player that you don’t hesitate to trade for. Enter Luka Doncic.

Doncic is a perennial MVP candidate. Despite being oft-injured this season and having “an off-year,” Doncic is still averaging 28 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists a game. The only reason he isn’t an all-star and an all-NBA player this season is because he’s been injured. For the last 5 seasons, Doncic has been all-NBA first team and an all-star as well. Last year, while leading his team to the finals, he averaged nearly a 34-point triple-double for the season. This is the most talented player of the new generation, there is no question about that.

So why would the Mavericks do this deal? That is a good question that nobody knows the answer to. General Manager Nico Harrison cited Doncic’s “conditioning issues” and added that “defense wins championships” when he defended the trade. Come on. I don’t care about the lack of defense or conditioning and neither does anyone else. He is a consistent top-three player and there was no reason to make the trade. Let’s grade it.

Dallas Mavericks: F-

Picture this. A contending team built around Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. A great point guard and big duo that will almost certainly be competing for a championship with some other pieces around them. Now take a step back and look at the General Manager secretly tossing LUKA DONCIC out of a window. As good as the prospective duo of Kyrie and AD might be, Luka Doncic is an untradeable player and shouldn’t have been moved.

Los Angeles Lakers: A

Apparently, Lebron James wasn’t even notified about this deal. That seems very hard to believe for a number of reasons. Why would the Lakers not notify their best player, an all-time legend, about trading his best teammate? Lebron James is the mastermind behind this team, so it seems unrealistic that they wouldn’t get his opinion beforehand. On top of that, general critics are already talking about the lack of a fit between Lebron and Luka. While there are a lot of negatives with this deal, including the lack of defense, we have to look at the big picture once more. Lebron James and Luka Doncic. This is a team built to win now and in the future. Just imagine, after James retires Bronny steps into his shoes and continues another dynasty. While I am a Clippers fan, I am rooting for Luka to go crazy on his new team.

At the end of the day, the NBA needed some drama. Here we have it. Luka Doncic is a Los Angeles Laker—let those words sink in for a second.