As new Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic works through shooting struggles, there is no doubt that the trade that sent him away from the Dallas Mavericks was one fans will never forget. With Doncic and Lakers star LeBron James building chemistry, team president Jeanie Buss speaks about the transformative trade and why she feels “proud” about it besides the obvious result in getting a super talent.
Before Los Angeles beat the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday, 111-102, Buss spoke to ESPN about the trade and mentioned a few significant aspects. One was that she didn’t want to have to reset the team in order to get Doncic and that the conversations didn’t leak, which made her “really proud.”
“It was really important to me that we didn’t blow up the team,” Buss said Thursday before the Lakers’ 111-102 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. “If it had leaked out and the trade hadn’t happened, that would be really unfair to the progress that the coaching staff had made with the team. Because it’s a huge distraction.”
“The trade deadline is part of the business. It increases the level of stress for everybody,” Buss continued. “And I’m really proud that it didn’t leak out and that we were able to execute the trade in a way that still was surprising to all the parties involved. But that goes with this business.”
Still, the team acquired not only a superstar, but one that is 25 years old and is likely going to be the face of the franchise for the future.
Lakers’ Jeanie Buss on if there were thoughts on the trade being vetoed
There were some conversations on social media if there was a scenario where the Lakers trade for Doncic would be rescinded, sending Anthony Davis and Max Christie back. In the same way that Los Angeles was about to complete a deal that would have them acquire Chris Paul from the New Orleans Hornets in 2011, but the league commissioner at the time, David Stern, vetoed it.
“There’s always this concern there’s going to be some new ruling that, like, now what’s going to happen?” Buss said. “But what I have complete confidence in Rob is that he knows how to walk a deal through step-by-step to make sure that everything is complete and buttoned-up, and that’s exactly what happened.”
When asked if her father, the late and former owner Jerry Buss, would have approved the trade, she had no hesitation saying yes.
“He’d be very proud,” Jeanie Buss said. “When you get a player of that stature, you have to give up a lot. But it’s like, my dad was such a great poker player, and he said that he always wanted me to remember that poker was a game of patience. That you had to wait for the right cards, but once you got the cards, you had to go from zero to 100 and play the cards and not be afraid to play them. So it was difficult because we were not looking to trade Anthony Davis or Max Christie. But it was a deal that he would’ve made, and we had to go for it.”
The Lakers are 36-21 which puts them fourth in the Western Conference as they next play the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.
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