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Best NBA Trade ROI: Luka Doncic or Jimmy Butler?
Fourteen Days Since the NBA Trade Deadline, We’re Breaking Down Which Team Got the Best Trade ROI
Hold Off on Judging Luka, Judge the Lakers Instead! 🏀
Remember a couple of weeks ago when NBA news broke about the Los Angeles Lakers acquiring Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in one of the biggest trades in league history?
BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Three-team deal that includes Utah.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025
For some, Doncic’s arrival in LA was a saving grace for the NBA, one of professional sports’ most battered leagues.
For others, including myself, Luka’s trade broke the internet, making the Lakers’ betting odds look much more attractive. It even made the league’s premier knucklehead, Adam Silver, feel “surprised.”
Adam Silver on the Luka — AD trade:
“I was surprised when I heard the trade. I did not know that Luka Doncic was potentially a player that was about to be traded…that was news to me.”
(h/t @ohnohedidnt24 / @ClutchPoints)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) February 16, 2025
Now though, three lackluster games after, including last night’s poor showing against the Charlotte Hornets in which LaMelo Ball had him looking like he was on skates on the court, is it time for a little overreaction or just a call for accountability?
LAMELO HAD LUKA ON SKATES 😯🔥 pic.twitter.com/qPt5RDWPnz
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 20, 2025
While overreacting just for the kick of it is always fun, it’s still too early to press the panic button. On the other hand, calling out accountability feels like the best move right now. And no, not on Doncic specifically, but on the Lakers in general.
Take LA’s NBA Championship winner odds right, currently slated at +1400. If I were a Lakers fan, I’d be taking them.
You can’t really make judgments on a player who has only played three games thus far, especially considering we’re talking about the man who will most likely become the face of the franchise after LeBron James either retires or leaves LA.
But, considering the magnitude of the trade, the hype surrounding it, with stars upon stars showing up for his debut, and other factors, you’d expect Luka to come out and play like his life depended on it from day one, right?
If you look up Luka Doncic’s stats as a Laker in those first three games, you’ll see why accountability needs to be addressed here.
Luka is not a perfect basketball player. He has flaws, just like any other hooper. The issue is that the Lakers were expecting a messiah-type arrival, with the immediate bromance between LBJ and LD being the perfect scenario for immediate improvement on the court and in the standings.
LA expected those flaws to be left in Dallas, along with the $15 million house Doncic bought before being traded.
Now that reality has hit, it’s safe to say that unless LA finds a way to chill out, understand how to use Luka best and hold realistic expectations, even if the team’s NBA playoff odds stand at -1200, I wouldn’t be putting the champagne to chill for a title celebration this season.
Jimmy Is Happy, Warriors Are Happy, Everybody’s Happy
Who here isn’t a fan of a happy ending in a story? Take Jimmy Butler’s saga with the Miami Heat, for example.
From joking about potentially being unemployed because of his disputes with upper management to finally leaving the Heat in a trade with the Golden State Warriors, where Jimmy is thriving again, it’s safe to say Butler is one happy hooper.
As soon as Butler joined the Warriors, NBA rumors of a potential Golden State title run began to take shape, with Draymond Green outright stating that the Warriors “are going to win the championship.”
“I’m so happy over there. [Warriors are] top-notch. I get to play with Steph [Curry] so I’m a fan of him, just like 99.9% of the world and a chance of winning a championship, what more can you ask for?”
– Jimmy Butler
(via @VirginRadioDXB)pic.twitter.com/nPcPAwztyq
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 19, 2025
Following an initial 3-1 record with Butler now on the court in which the Warriors have already beaten two NBA playoff-caliber teams like the Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets, everybody is living it up in Butler’s new era by the Bay.
In those four games, Jimmy Butler’s stats (25, 20, 21, 19 points, 2, 9, 9, 8 rebounds, 4, 7, 6, 4 assists) read like a player that’s found his groove once again, somebody who is happy to be where he is now.
Leaving happiness and bliss aside for a second, Golden State’s road to a potential playoff berth and even a title run still needs some work before it becomes a reality.
Looking at the current odds to win the Western Conference, Golden State’s +1800 would make a shaky betor stay away. But with one of the easiest remaining schedules in the league, Steph, Draymond, and Jimmy all synching, Jonathan Kuminga back in the lineup to bolster up the defense, and the Los Angeles Clippers a stone’s throw away from being knocked out of the 6th spot in the standings, I’d buy into the hype right now.
Who’s NBA Title Odds Are You Buying? LA or GS?
Coming back from the NBA All-Star break, two issues stand in the way of taking either Luka’s Lakers or Jimmy’s Warriors NBA title odds (LA +1400, GS +4000).
If you’re a Lakers fan, ask yourself this before diving into those odds: Once LA can manage to start getting the best out of Doncic, and he and LeBron start forming the virtually unstoppable offense that’s expected, will they have enough on defense to carry them to a title?
Remembering legendary NCAAF coach Bear Bryant’s words: “Offense win games, defense win championships.” Currently, LA’s defense doesn’t seem ready even to spell out the word championship.
Lakers transition defense pic.twitter.com/vZGjPtWkW5
— Bari (@Outlandish_Take) February 20, 2025
If you, on the other hand, are a Warriors fan, ask yourself this before hitching a ride on Golden State’s championship NBA picks and predictions bandwagon: Jimmy is looking good right now, Draymond is shooting out hope, love and optimism, Steph feels motivated, and if they keep playing the way they are, it’ll be no time before they take the Clippers out of the 6th spot in the west, but can they manage to keep the momentum going all the way until the end?
The Warriors have the easiest remaining schedule in the West.
Time to make a run. pic.twitter.com/s9SOSHk2m4
— De🅿️ressed Warriors Fan 💔 (@GoIdenState) February 18, 2025
Call it Bay mystique or whatever, but if the Warriors continue focusing on playing the rest of their NBA games with the same level of drive they are right now, mostly in part because of Butler’s arrival, buying into those +4000 odds seems like the steal of the century.
