Mavs approached Lakers for Luka Doncic trade, had ‘major concerns’ over conditioning

The shocking Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade came about after Dallas offered the superstar forward to the purple and gold after growing concerns over his conditioning.

How does one even imagine the start of Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade talks? Do you understand how insane a trade has to be for the initial reaction from most on social media is that Shams Charania, who first reported the deal, must have been hacked?

Alas, it is real. And not only is it real, but the Mavericks initiated the discussions.

According to Shams, Dallas general manager Nico Harrison approached the Lakers about a Luka Doncic trade and got the ball rolling.

Why would he do that, though? Luka is a generational superstar and is not even in his prime yet. Surely there is something going on there, then.

Well, kind of. One of the issues throughout Luka’s career has been his conditioning. And according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, who has long been a beat writer in Dallas, those issues had grown into bigger and bigger concerns.

There are two immediate reactions to that. First, criticizing someone’s weight while they’re rehabbing an injury feels, uh, unfair? Secondly, is there a better person to pair Luka with than LeBron James if there are concerns about his conditioning?

And what better motivation for Luka to get in shape than being blindsided by a trade and then having it blamed on your conditioning?

Circling back to the Mavs, they capped off the night by throwing some dirt on Luka, who just led them to the NBA Finals LAST SEASON, on the way out.

What a bizarre stance to take to trade away a generational star. Hopefully, Luka remembers all of this and uses it as motivation moving forward.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.