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[Saba Sports News] The Los Angeles Lakers had multiple reasons for jumping at the chance to acquire Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks, but owner Jeanie Buss recently revealed one particularly surprising motivation behind the blockbuster trade.
In an interview with NPR’s *Morning Edition*, Buss pointed to the Denver Nuggets as a major factor in the Lakers’ decision. After being eliminated by Denver in back-to-back postseasons, Buss suggested that the team felt they needed a significant change to avoid the same fate.
“We gave up a lot to get Luka Doncic,” Buss admitted.
“We’re happy we have him. We have lost the last (two) years in a row to the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs, and we really didn’t have anything that was going to look different going into the playoffs again.”
Buss also acknowledged that Anthony Davis had voiced frustrations about his role, making the trade beneficial for both teams.
“Anthony Davis was complaining about where he was being played and wasn’t happy. So I think this was a positive for both teams. They got what they were looking for; we got what we were looking for.”
The Nuggets had dominated the Lakers in recent years, sweeping them in the 2023 Western Conference Finals and eliminating them in five games in the first round of 2024. At the time of the trade, the Lakers were sitting fifth in the West and facing the real possibility of another first-round clash with Denver.
Since then, they have surged to second place, a stretch that included a statement 123-100 road win over the Nuggets.
While securing Doncic as the long-term franchise cornerstone was the primary reason for the trade, the Lakers clearly wanted to shake off their struggles against Denver.
Now, with Doncic in the fold, they appear much more confident in their chances of avoiding another postseason letdown.