The Los Angeles Lakers set the sports world ablaze when they traded Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic before the NBA Trade Deadline. Just before the clock struck, they also added center Mark Williams.
This gave them one of the better-starting fives in all of basketball. However, the great Charles Barkley does not necessarily think so.
He actually thinks that the Dallas Mavericks are better right now after the trade than the Los Angeles Lakers are.
Charles Barkley Says Mavs Have Better Shot At Championship Than Los Angeles Lakers
Shockingly, not only does Barkley not think the Lakers are better than OKC, the Memphis Grizzlies, or the Houston Rockets, but he thinks that the Mavericks have a better shot at winning the NBA Championship with Anthony Davis.
“The Lakers don’t have a chance to win the championship this year, the Mavs do. OKC is the team to beat. I don’t think the Lakers are better than the Mavs. I’m not sure they’re better than Memphis. I’m not sure they’re better than the Rockets.” Barkley said.
Barkley continued:
“Number 1 they are not gonna be good defensively. It’s gonna be a really hard adjustment for Luka Doncic.”
It is actually some sound reasoning, and most would agree that by trading for Doncic, the Lakers were setting themselves up for the future and making him the face of the franchise moving forward.
Also Read: Update On Luka Doncic Debut With Los Angeles Lakers
But after adding Mark Williams, and with no intention of moving LeBron James, who is playing really good basketball, it would be hard to believe that they won’t be one of the teams in the West with a viable shot to go the distance.
The LA Lakers are targeting Monday for Doncic’s debut. We can then start to see what this team will really look like.