Utah Jazz general manager Justin Zanik was very candid in his recent assessment of the trade that send Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Zanik and the Jazz were involved as a third team to facilitate the blockbuster trade that saw the Dallas Mavericks ship Doncic to the Lakers. As such, Zanik appeared on the local TV broadcast of last Wednesday’s game between the two teams to discuss the deal.
During the interview, Zanik might have accidentally exposed how many NBA executives feel about the trade, as he essentially described it as a “gift” for the Lakers.
“Rob Pelinka even said it in his press conference introducing Luka that it was a gift,” Zanik said of the trade. “And I think that’s how a lot of my colleagues, I don’t want to speak for them, but how we all kind of felt.
“But Nico (Harrison) and Dallas, they do a great job. They obviously had their reasons, and wanting to improve the defense, and obviously getting a top-15 player in their own right, they decided that was in their best interest.”
Zanik probably is not too out of line in his assessment. Players and executives alike were largely shocked by the trade, with one current player labeling it “highway robbery” on the part of the Lakers. The perception of the deal was so slanted that commissioner Adam Silver had to address a conspiracy theory that arose from it.
Nobody disputes that Davis is a great player, but he turns 32 next month and is known for having recurring injury problems. Doncic is 25 and likely counts as one of the league’s five best players.
The Jazz landed Jalen Hood-Schifino and some second-round picks for their part in the trade, as they helped balance salary to facilitate the deal. Details of the trade were so closely guarded that Utah had no idea about the details of the broader deal they were involved in until they had essentially already agreed to their part in it.
The Mavericks remain adamant that they were doing the right thing for the organization by making the trade. Only time will tell, but it sounds like even fellow executives disagree.
