The Lakers were not the only team that Mavericks GM Nico Harrison reached out to regarding a possible Luka Doncic trade. According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the Mavericks had informal discussions with the Timberwolves regarding a possible Doncic-Anthony Edwards swap in the weeks leading up to the blockbuster deal with Los Angeles.
Those discussions didn’t go anywhere because Minnesota had no interest in trading its All-Star guard. However, the Timberwolves brass was stunned that Dallas was even considering a Doncic trade.
From a salary standpoint, the numbers would have matched up pretty neatly — Doncic is making $43MM this season and Edwards is pulling in $42.2MM. Edwards is in the first year of a five-year, max extension that currently adds up to $244.6MM. Recall that the main motivation for Dallas to trade Doncic is that the front office didn’t want to give him a five-year, super-max extension worth a projected $345MM.
Had the Timberwolves been willing to trade Edwards for Doncic, the two franchises would have essentially swapped superstars entering or in their prime. Edwards is still just 23 years old, while Doncic is 26.
Instead, the centerpiece of the package the Mavs received was 31-year old big man Anthony Davis, an oft-injured perennial All-Star who suffered an adductor strain in his Dallas debut and has yet to return. The deal has been extremely unpopular with Mavericks fans but they might have had a different reaction if the team essentially replaced one high-scoring playmaker with another.
Thus far, the Lakers are 3-1 in the games that Doncic has played since the trade, including a 111-102 win over the Timberwolves on Thursday.