Charles Barkley has weighed in on the trade that everyone is talking about — and he has and offbeat theory.
The fallout from the deal that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers and Anthony Davis to the Mavericks has continued well into the day on Sunday as fans have tried to digest the monumental trade.
The Mavericks have caught a significant amount of heat considering the one-sidedness of the deal that Dallas general manager Nico Harrison had tried to spin during a press conference on Sunday.
Fans protested outside the American Airlines Center while the team played Cleveland on the road.
Doncic’s father even came out and criticized the way the Mavericks treated his son after he was traded.
But one person wasn’t as quick to judge the Mavs’ front office for pulling the trigger on the trade, and that was Barkley.
During an appearance on NBA TV, Barkley suggested that perhaps Doncic was traded for good reasons that were evident to the Mavericks and not anyone else.
“Let me tell you something. The only people that know Luka Doncic is the Dallas Mavericks,” Barkley said. “Guys who have been with him for years, who have been with him every day. He’s a great player, But all of us talking heads… They must know something we don’t know. Listen, he’s been hurt. Everybody complains about his conditioning. But once you give a guy five years, $350 million, y’all are stuck together for life.”
The TNT analyst did find it curious that the Mavericks didn’t reach out to other teams about Doncic
“Those are the two aspects of this trade that are shocking,” Barkley said. “A star for star. And they didn’t go for the highest bidder. They went for a quick deal and it was over. In fairness, they got a hell of a player. Anthony Davis is an All-NBA player.”
Doncic has been dealing with a calf injury that has kept him off the court since Christmas, but when he’s been on the floor this season he’s averaged 28.1 points per game and 8.3 rebounds.
A report from ESPN indicated that the Mavericks had “major concerns” with Doncic going forward due to condition issues and the impending commitment of another supermax contract extension that would likely come over the summer.
The insinuations about Doncic have not sat well with his father, Sasa, who appeared on Arena Sport Slovenija on Sunday.
“It wasn’t even a problem last year since, I am saying again, one individual said he’s not fit enough,” Sasa said. “That he played, I don’t know, 100 games, practically 40 minutes with two or three players constantly on him. That he was beaten and you say such things about him. I feel that this is very unfair from certain individuals. You traded him, stand by your actions but don’t look for excuses or alibis, that’s it.”
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