Bombazo in the NBA signing winter window. Two of the most prominent players in the United States Professional Basketball League change equipment. The Slovenian Luka Dončić leaves the Dallas Mavericks to be transferred to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, in the three -band operation Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris and Max Christie also enter.
The former Real Madrid player will share team with LeBron James, the Lakers star, who at 40 is approaching the withdrawal. Dončić, 25, can become the generation
The exchange has been a surprise, because there was no indication that neither of the two teams were considering dispensing with their players. Dončić was playing his seventh season at the Mavericks and last year for the first time he was close to reaching the champion ring. He has been injured since December and San Francisco, but in which he has already participated five times.
Anthony Davis, 31, was in his sixth year in the Lakers, after spending his first seven NBA seasons in the New Orleans Pelicans. The 2.08 meters high pivot in the bubble season, and has participated 10 times in the All Star.
His career in the Angelino team has been marked by injuries that have subtracted many minutes of play, but he was one of the most important pillars of the franchise. On Monday, in what was his last full game with the yellow and purple uniform, in front of the Charlotte Hornets, he spoke 42 points. He will play next to Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson as soon as he recovers from an abdominal pull that has kept him in the bank in the last three games.
The signings change the appearance of both teams, which are going through a somewhat irregular season. The Lakers are fifth at the West Conference thanks to a recent triumph streak, while the Mavericks are eighths and have felt Dončić’s absence for a calf injury. Its attempt to return to the courts is February 8.
The bomb signing was released minutes after the Lakers beat the Knicks 128-112 at the Madison Square Garden in New York. It was a negotiated operation in complete secret between Rob Pelinka, the manager of the Lakers, and Nico Harrison, the president of Operations of Dallas, who had the complete support of the owners, owner of Casinos de Las Vegas.
Not even LeBron James was aware. The star learned when he was having dinner with his family after this Saturday’s victory, in which he registered a triple double with 33 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds. The news was revealed by Shams Charania, the Expert Reporter in Expert in the League. “It is one of the most surprising signings of the NBA because no one saw him come completely,” Charania said tonight.
Among those surprised, Dončić himself can also tell, who had not requested Dallas to explore a change to change uniform. On the horizon he had a renegotiation of his contract for five years, which was going to be presented in July, and that could reach a record of around 345 million dollars. Nico Harrison changed these plans and decided to approach Pelinka to offer a too good opportunity to let it pass.
Los Angeles also yields to Dallas as part of the agreement to the selection of the first round of the 2029 draft and the base Max Christie, who with 21 years was considered one of the young promises of the Lakers, who have former JJ Redick as coach as a coach as a coach . Christie played as a starter since the beginning of December, which helped the team register a streak of 16-8.
With Dončić they also make the trip to Los Angeles two wing pivot, the German Maxi Kleber, 2.08 meters, and Markieff Morris, a 35 -year -old veteran, and who has not seen many minutes of play with the MAVs this season. Jalen Hood-Schifino has also been involved in the operation, a 21-year-old escort, which leaves the Lakers to join the Utah Jazz. This team wins two second round selections in this year’s drafts. He has paid $ 55,000 (48,000 euros) to each player involved because the league rules demand that all the equipment engaged in three -band transfers must send something to the others.
The reactions began to arrive within a few minutes that ESPN gave the news. , he wrote in X: “Wowwwww no f way (no fucking).” The cameras captured a speech Booker, star of the Suns, while reading in the banking of an iPad in full game between Phoenix and the Trail Blazers of Portland. Dirk Nowitzki, one of the legendary Mavericks players, was left without words and limited himself to publishing an emoji with a face of amazement.
The signing, one of the greatest in the recent history of the NBA, has been announced on February 1. The same day, but 2008, the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol, a European who changed with Kobe Bryant the team course. It remains to be seen if Luca can do the same with one of his heroes of youth, LeBron James.
