NBA trade deadline live updates: Lakers introduce Luka Dončić, Jimmy Butler market remains fluid
LeBron James was out for dinner when news his Los Angeles Lakers had traded for Luka Dončić took him by surprise, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. It is hard to believe that James was blindsided by the news, since the agent he shares with Anthony Davis, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, was reportedly alerted to the proposal in the days before a deal; but it makes some sense, because this deal is not about James.
This trade was about the opportunity to acquire a 25-year-old perennial MVP candidate at half the cost.
It was not about this season, either. The Lakers are not winning a championship with James making 35% of their salary cap. It will be incredible theater for James and Dončić to share the floor together. If Dončić adopts James’ conditioning regimen, the Lakers will be better for it, but James is 40 years old; he cannot sustain the kind of peak two-way performance they need from his $48.7 million for an entire playoff run.
Which is why the Lakers should trade James now.
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