Luka Doncic finally gets to join forces with his dream trade target on Lakers

We are nearly two weeks removed from the day that the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, and fans from both sides are still buzzing about this unbelievable move. This was a trade that no one expected, and as more time goes on, the worse this trade looks for Dallas.

Doncic made his Lakers debut on Monday night, finishing with 14 points in a win over the Utah Jazz, and while Davis dazzled in his Mavericks debut against the Houston Rockets on Saturday, he is now out due to a left adductor strain and could miss significant time. Everything that can possibly go wrong is going wrong in Dallas, and that stretches beyond the game being played.

Fans are furious that the team traded Doncic, and this move led to a protest outside of the American Airlines Center last weekend as well as several fans getting kicked out of the game last night. Seeing Doncic in the purple and gold was a hard sight for Mavericks fans last night, and while he had a relatively quiet scoring night, it's clear that he is going to be a monster in Los Angeles.

He scored at all three levels against Utah, and pairing him with LeBron James is going to give opposing teams fits. They are both two of the best playmakers to ever play the sport, and Doncic showed some glimpses of his all-time greatness as a passer in his first game as a Laker.

Doncic and Hayes finally unite after years of wanting to play together

Doncic dished out four assists against Utah, and his skip passes were on point as they always are. Defenses can't lose track of shooters on the perimeter when Doncic is driving to the paint, as he always finds a way to get them the ball, but his skip passes are just the tip of the iceberg when talking about his playmaking.

He is also a stellar lob passer, and Mavericks fans know that better than anyone. His chemistry with Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II was on another level during his time in Dallas, and now he has a new lob target in Los Angeles.

Doncic and Jaxson Hayes connected for multiple alley-oop slams in Doncic's first game as a Laker, and according to a recent report from ESPN's Dave McMenamin, he and Hayes already seem like they are getting to know each other off the court as well. Hayes was the first Laker teammate that Doncic went to dinner with in Los Angeles, and it sounds like the two wanted to play with each other in Dallas back in the day.

Hayes said that the Mavericks kept trying to trade for him when he was on the New Orleans Pelicans, and he had real interest in teaming up with Doncic in Dallas. He would always tell Doncic how he would love to play with him one day after they would play against each other, and Doncic even brought up how the Mavs continuously tried to trade for him in a conversation with Hayes.

There was clearly a mutual interest in teaming up between Hayes and Doncic that lasted multiple seasons, and now they get to do so many years later for the Lakers. Doncic makes any big that he plays with better, and that was clear in their first game playing together as teammates. He connected with Hayes for a dunk less than one minute into the game, and he found him again later in the second half.

This duo was on the same page right when the game began, and it would have been a beautiful thing to see Hayes and Doncic as teammates for the Mavericks. Hayes would have been a great young piece to develop alongside Doncic during the beginning of his career in Dallas, and each of them finally got their wish by being able to join forces for the Lakers.