The sports world is still reeling from the astonishing Luka Doncic trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s just really hard to process the Dallas Mavericks willingly giving up on a young superstar who probably isn’t close to his final form as a professional basketball player. Dallas general manager Nico Harrison will have some explaining to do for the foreseeable future. (Meanwhile, Rob Pelinka is probably still laughing all the way to the bank.)
What this trade does, however, is open the door to all of the silliest possible trade ideas in sports. I’m talking about some of the most ludicrous, nonsensical suggestions you could imagine. Those half-baked thoughts you come up with friends at the bar? Not unrealistic! That extremely desperate suggestion you make in someone’s mentions on social media? Don’t stop dreaming!
With the Mavericks dealing away a generational talent for a comical return, anything feels possible now.
Let’s break down some hypothetical trades across various American sports leagues that, all of a sudden, wouldn’t seem all that crazy anymore.
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In no realm or universe would it ever make sense for the Ravens to send away a perennial MVP-caliber quarterback in his prime. He’s only 28! But if Baltimore was convinced Lamar Jackson truly couldn’t get it done in the postseason? If they thought they needed a more “traditional” dropback passing game? Come on down, Dak Prescott! You’re just the uninspiring (and older) pocket passer with inflated numbers Baltimore would covet in this scenario.
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Nathan MacKinnon is so good for the Avalanche that he’s basically guaranteed to produce 100-plus points for them every year. The reigning Hart Trophy is one of the handful of best players in hockey. Full stop. BUT! Colorado did just deal away former franchise talisman Mikko Rantanen for pennies on the dollar. And, as a supposed Stanley Cup contender, the Avalanche have one of the least reliable defenses in hockey. Enter the older Victor Hedman, a defenseman who would shore up the Avs’ blue line as they lost so much two-way juice from their top-line center.
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Why would the Yankees trade a two-time AL MVP after giving him the world, you ask? Because he’s not a WINNER, you see! And in getting Yordan Alvarez in return, you know, a former World Series champion, they’d have an actual LEADER in the clubhouse. It’s so simple!
Don’t laugh at Yankees Exceptionalism, folks.
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Oh. Wait. These two teams already made this move. Granted, Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t an MVP-caliber player yet, but still … it’s now pretty funny to look back upon in hindsight. Moving on.
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Once again, I see no legitimate football reason as to why the Bengals would ever willingly let go of Burrow. They elected to give him the big-money contract they have yet to reward Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins with, after all. Still, that’s kind of the rub, isn’t it? I’m suddenly finding it easy to imagine Bengals owner