The stunning trade that sent five-time All-Star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, and in exchange, nine-time All-Star Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks continues to reverberate for both teams, and throughout the NBA. On Monday, after he played just one game for his new team, Davis was sidelined with an adductor strain — an injury that used to be called a “groin pull” — and will miss “multiple weeks.”
On the other end of the trade, the 25-year-old Doncic had played only 22 of the Mavericks’ 49 games prior to the trade, none since Christmas Day, and went on to sit out his first three games as a Laker. The 2018-2019 NBA Rookie of the Year was suffering from a left calf strain — but he finally suited up and made his Lakers debut on Monday in a game at home against the Utah Jazz.
The Lakers blew the Jazz out in that one, 132-113. Doncic made a modest contribution, playing only 24 minutes while scoring 14 points with five assists and six rebounds.
More Bad News About Health of Doncic
But heading into the away half of the two-game series with Utah Wednesday, the team’s final game before the NBA heads into its weeklong All-Star break, the Lakers got more bad news about their newest superstar acquisition. On the NBA’s daily injury report for February 12, Doncic is once again listed as “questionable” heading into Wednesday’s game, scheduled for 7 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (9 p.m. Eastern) at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
The injury report status makes it seem likely that Doncic will again sit out the game in which, despite playing away from home, the 32-19 Lakers are listed as 9.5 point favorites over the 12-40 Jazz.
Doncic was not selected to the All-Star roster this season, breaking a streak of five consecutive All-Star appearances for the Ljubljana, Slovenia, native who was picked by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, No. 3 overall, of the 2018 NBA draft. The Hawks then quickly traded Doncic to Dallas for the Mavericks’ top pick, No. 5 overall, Trae Young, as well as a first round pick in 2019.
His absence from All-Star Weekend means that if Doncic sits out again on Wednesday, he gets a break of eight full days to further rest his calf strain before the Lakers resume action on February 19 at home against the Charlotte Hornets. By that time, Los Angeles presumably hopes, Doncic will feel up to taking his place alongside Lebron James as half of a dual threat that has the potential to lead the Lakers to their 18th NBA championship.
Doncic received 1.6 million All-Star votes, third highest among all guards. But in the NBA selection process, fan voting counts for only 50 percent of the final decision. Votes from players, coaches and a media panel comprise the other half.
Mavs Owner Implies Doncic Lacks ‘Focus’
But how quickly will Doncic recover from the lingering injury? The player’s physical conditioning and discipline has been called into question before, and shortly after the trade Mavericks’ owner Patrick Dumont appeared to say that Doncic did not have the “right character” to help the Mavericks — who made the NBA Finals last season only to lose in five games to the Boston Celtics — build for the future. Doncic battled injuries throughout the Finals against Boston.
“In my mind the way teams win is by focus, by having the right character, by having the right culture, and having the right dedication to work as hard as possible to create a championship-winning outcome,” Dumont said, as quoted by CBS Sports. “If you don’t have that, it doesn’t work. And if you don’t have that, you shouldn’t be part of the Dallas Mavericks.