Luke Doncic pushing himself hard in offseason to prove Mavericks wrong

Luka Doncic was the center of attention in the American Airlines Center until the Dallas Mavericks shipped Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in the middle of the night on February 1–2. This ignited a fire within Doncic, who has taken the reason for being traded to heart.

ESPN's Dave McMenamin reports, Luka is channeling how he was portrayed and treated in Dallas into the most focused off‑season of his career:

“Doncic remains motivated by how the Dallas Mavericks treated him in the aftermath of the trade … and has committed to an offseason training and nutrition program.” 

This comes after Mavericks GM Nico Harrison publicly questioned his offseason conditioning after the trade. The Mavericks front office didn't find Doncic's fitness up to the expected standards and that was one of the reasons why they shipped him off to get All-Star forward Anthony Davis in return.

The Mavericks fanbase was taken aback by this trade as it came just one season after Doncic, along with Kyrie Irving, led Dallas to their first NBA Finals appearance since the great Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks to win the 2011 NBA championship. 

While the fans took issue with this decision, it seems they have moved on after the Mavericks unexpectedly won the NBA lottery and landed Cooper Flagg as the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft.

With healthy Davis and Flagg stretching the floor in the paint and Irving, who'll likely return by January after tearing his ACL, the future looks better for the team in Dallas. Meanwhile, the Lakers will also enjoy a much fitter Doncic next season as they also hope to cash in on LeBron James' last few seasons in the NBA.