Lakers or Mavericks? This is who Shaquille O’Neal thinks got the better of the Luka Trade

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Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks in the first match up between the two teams since the midseason trade, but Shaq isn’t sold.

It was the game that everyone had been anxiously anticipating since the midseason trade the shocked the world and sent Luka Doncic to Los Angeles. Since the deal went down early this month, every person with a camera, microphone a iPhone seems to have chimed in on the trade, and before the Lakers vs. Mavs game on Tuesday night, Shaquille O’Neal took his chance to weigh in on the trade.

Did Dallas win?

The Inside the NBA guys were previewing the biggest regular season trade maybe ever, and Shaq didn’t shy away on voicing is opinion on the trade. After analyzing the deal and the unpredictable nature of the NBA, he went on to make a forecast for each team over the next couple of seasons.

Shaq had yet to weigh on the the deal that sent Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Marquiff Morris to the Lakers for Max Christie, Anthony Davis and a 2029 first round pick. “For the next two years, I think Dallas won the trade,” said the former Laker.

Shaq had yet to weigh on the the deal that sent Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Marquiff Morris to the Lakers for Max Christie, Anthony Davis and a 2029 first round pick. “For the next two years, I think Dallas won the trade,” said the former Laker.

This is surprising on a couple levels. On the surface, as Shaq says in the clip, the Mavericks let a 25 year old super star go because they didn’t feel like he was the person he wanted to carry the franchise into the future. Whether you believe that or not, they brought in a star in Anthony Davis, but the Mavs new power forward is on the downhill slope of his career.

AD out for a few more weeks

That means the Mavs want to win now. They were three games away from the NBA title last year, and after losing out to the Boston Celtics they apparently felt like they needed to make a change. Davis is still a bonfide superstar in this league, but he is prone to injury, and Shaq is one of the ones who has been most critical of Davis’ failure to stay healthy over the years.

He didn’t say much, but it was the actions, the laughing and the off screen paper crumbling that said everything. Davis went to Dallas and gave them a preview of what was to come. He put up 26 and 16 in his debut, but also got hurt in the same game. Now he is facing at least a few more weeks out with an abductor strain.

The other interesting thing about that comment is the two years that he feels the Mavs will be better. LeBron is 40 years old, and might have another year left, maybe two. The way Shaq seems to see it, he thinks the Lakers will be the winners of this deal after LeBron retires.