A domino that fell as a result of those Lakers disappointments was the Luka Dončić trade, one of the most shocking and inexplicable deals in NBA history.
If the Lakers were perennially engaged in title contention with LeBron, AD and Kawhi, the lines of communication between Rob Pelinka and Nico Harrison may never have opened on the Luka front.
Harrison may have assumed, and possibly correctly, that L.A. would have no interest in trading its defensive anchor.
Now, in just about any context, swapping Davis for Dončić would make tons of sense for the Lakers, but the mere idea of that swap, even in Harrison’s mind, probably doesn’t form without some inkling that Davis could be had.
