No one is saying that the Lakers should go back and undo the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade.
Los Angeles got the face of its franchise for the next decade, and he seems to be happy about it, too.
But it was hard to watch the Lakers fall to the Timberwolves (specifically 27 points on 12-15 FG from Rudy Gobert) and wonder about how things could've looked differently.
L.A. traded Davis, an all-time great defender, for Doncic, who is a bit closer to resembling a traffic cone out there defensively.
And then in the Lakers' final game of the season, Gobert went for 27 with 24 rebounds.
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Los Angeles didn't play Jaxson Hayes a single second, which made things feel that much worse.
Davis likely would've neutralized Gobert entirely.
Given that the Timberwolves shot 7-for-47 from 3-point range, the interior presence of Davis would've likely made this a blowout.
The Lakers did have proof in 2020 that they could get the job done with a group that included us.
Long term, of course they had to make the Doncic trade. It still will likely go down as an absolute fleecing.
But on Wednesday night, AD was sorely missed by the Lakers.
The full picture was completed by Kyrie Irving sitting courtside. Los Angeles, Doncic, Davis, all the band had various chances at different outcomes here.
But by the end of Wednesday night, the season was over for all of them.
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