To say, Luka Doncic trade was one of the most shocking sports stories to ever happen is an understatement. Nobody believed the news when ESPN’s Shams Charania tweeted out that the Slovenian superstar had been traded from the Mavs to the Lakers, to the point that people believed that the scribe’s account had been hacked.
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It wasn’t just NBA fans who were floored by the news. NBA beat reporters who spend their lives being in the know had no idea that this was going down. Coaches and players from other teams have spoken about their disbelief in hearing about the trade, too.
As it turns out, even Lakers players couldn’t wrap their heads around it. Austin Reaves joined The Young Man and The Three this week, and he gave his recollection of the infamous February night in question.
Reaves remembered that the Lakers were feeling good after having just beaten the Knicks by double-digits. They spoke to their families, took care of their media responsibilities and got on the team bus. “We’re five minutes away from the hotel,” he said, adding, “and our group chat starts going crazy.”
Reaves thought nothing of it, because he rarely checks the chat. “The first thing I looked at when I pulled my phone up, AD said, ‘They traded me.’ If anybody knows AD, he jokes around a lot. So I laughed and I put my phone down,” he recalled.
When his phone didn’t calm down, though, Reaves decided to check social media. That’s when he found Shams’ post, so he reached out to an assistant coach and asked him bluntly, “‘What the f***?'”
To the best of his memory, the response went something like, “‘Uhhhhh,’ and that’s all he said. I was like ‘Uh what?!’ He was like, ‘It’s real,'” a fact he knew because he was with Max Christie at the time, another player who was included in the trade. It took some time for Reaves to fully process what had happened.
“I was obviously hurt at the time because I had a good relationship with Max, had a really really really good relationship with Anthony Davis,” he said. If there’s one thing that can ease that pain, though, it’s welcoming a five-time First Team All-NBA player who’s a top-five player in the league in return.
In the end, Reaves made peace with his teammate Anthony Davis making way for Doncic. “Everything happens for a reason,” he said. “I’m really excited about what we got.”
With Luka aboard, the Lakers ended up finishing third in the West, but they disappointed in the playoffs by getting knocked out in five games in the first round by the Timberwolves.
Now with an entire offseason to come together, one which included Luka signing an extension and getting in great shape and Deandre Ayton being signed to take AD’s place, there’s real reason to believe they can do even better this year, even in a loaded conference.
Reaves will be a big piece of that. He took a big leap last year by averaging over 20 points for the first time in his career. Besides, his ability to shoot and distribute alongside Luka and LeBron James will make the Lakers extremely difficult to stop.
