Feb 25, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts with Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) during the first quarter at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Luka Doncic compares Mavs' Kyrie Irving trade to current Lakers situation

Originally posted on Dallas Mavericks on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated May 2, 2025 4:05 PM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers had an early exit from the postseason, running into the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round, who proved to be a mismatch for the new-look Lakers. LA had no frontcourt play to stop Minnesota's combination of Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert, and Naz Reid, as well as a superstar like Anthony Edwards, who got whatever look he wanted for most of the five games in the series.

LA wasn't expected to get the third seed in the Western Conference after the shocking trade where they got Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks for Anthony Davis and Max Christie. It was a deal made with the future in mind for the Lakers, as Doncic was still dealing with injuries at the time of the deal. But that rise in the regular season didn't help them in the playoffs, which Doncic attributed to chemistry as much as anything.

"It's tough to get that chemistry on the court without any practices," Doncic revealed after being asked about learning to play with LeBron James and Austin Reaves. "I'm really excited to have the preseason with those two... I look back with Kyrie [Irving], when he got traded to the Mavs, we didn't really connect on the court. We didn't really know each other, each other's games... We can see next year, we had preseason together and it was just amazing... It's tough not having practices... But I'm excited about the preseason."

Doncic and Irving had a hard time gelling after Kyrie came in from Brooklyn, as the two ball-dominant guards had to learn had to play off each other. Once they had an offseason to work on that, they were dynamite in the 2023-24 season, making the NBA Finals after a few more trades were made around the edges of the roster.

This will be a big offseason for Doncic, as he tries to heal from injuries, get in shape, and gain chemistry with his new team. The 2024-25 season was a rocky one for the Slovenian superstar, as he never wanted to leave Dallas and was consistently slandered by his former team and the media on his way out.

This article first appeared on Dallas Mavericks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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