It is official. Nobody is safe. Of all the players that were thought to be untouchable, Luka Doncic was one of them. Doncic's move to the Los Angeles Lakers trade has re-written the NBA and shows that there is no more loyalty. That any player can be traded at any time.
This brings up an interesting question for the Golden State Warriors -- is a Stephen Curry trade more likely now that franchise superstars are getting tossed around like basketballs at a Harlem Globetrotters game?
The Mavericks trading Doncic to the Lakers is like if the Warriors had traded Stephen Curry in 2014. At that point, the Warriors still hadn’t won anything significant, but Curry had established himself as a budding superstar. Curry was only 26 years old and had only one All-Star appearance under his belt at the time.
Luka on the other hand is only 25 years old, already has led the Mavericks to a Finals appearance, and already has five all-star appearances. Just like trading Curry in 2014 would have been incomprehensible, trading Luka right now is even more so.
So does this make Curry more tradeable now? In his current form, he certainly isn’t as valuable as Luka. His play has been slowly declining the last few seasons and the near 37-year-old is starting to show signs of his age more and more by the week. Golden State could still get a huge return if they chose to trade him, but is a Stephen Curry trade possible?
As we've now seen, anything is possible. That being said, a Curry trade is incredibly unlikely. The biggest difference between Curry and Doncic is the longevity and the championships. Curry has four championships to his name and is a Bay Area legend. Trading him (especially without his consent) would bring insane backlash from DubNation. The Mavericks front office is already facing significant backlash, but comparing Luka’s belovedness to Curry’s is like comparing Patrick McCaw to Andrew Wiggins.
The Warriors wouldn’t and shouldn’t trade Curry unless he asks for it. The 2x MVP wants to finish his career as a Warrior and the franchise should want the same. In fact, they are likely struggling at the moment due to their unwavering belief in Curry’s abilities.
So maybe the Warriors won’t be able to land a huge trade package for their franchise star, but at least they will be able to do good by the man who revived their franchise from the NBA gutter.