Grading Luka Doncic's Los Angeles Lakers debut after Mavericks blindsided him

The Dallas Mavericks lost a close overtime contest to the Sacramento Kings on Monday night after a game-winner from Demar DeRozan, but Dallas' loss was hardly the story of the evening, as fans were still visually distraught at the Luka Doncic trade and were voicing their discontent toward Mavericks President of Basketball Operations Nico Harrison and Governor Patrick Dumont at the game.

Now over a week removed from the Doncic-Anthony Davis swap, the dust has barely settled for Mavericks fans who were vehemently against this one-sided decision by Harrison, as protesters flooded Victory Plaza at the American Airlines Center ahead of Dallas' first home game since the Doncic trade this past Saturday.

In Monday night's game versus the Kings, multiple fans were removed from the arena for displaying anti-Nico Harrison signs in the arena, and it feels like there will be mass civil unrest amongst Mavericks fans for months.

Mavericks fans' discontent is completely justifiable, and this is truly one of the most wretched stretches of terrible luck accompanied by poor roster management that any sports organization has ever seen, as Davis re-injured himself toward the end of the third quarter of his Mavericks debut on Saturday and fellow big man Daniel Gafford didn't return to Dallas' game versus Sacramento after suffering a right knee sprain.

Grading Luka Doncic's first game for the Lakers

There truly hasn't been a more confusing and bitter stretch that Mavericks fans have suffered throughout the franchise's entire history, and Mavericks fans weren't even able to catch a break in the slightest after Dallas' tantalizing close 129-128 loss on Monday, as Luka Doncic made his Los Angeles Lakers debut versus the Utah Jazz shortly before Dallas' game ended. Los Angeles won 132-113, and Doncic dazzled.

Mavericks fans' stomachs have already been turning from all the Doncic social media propaganda that the Lakers and their fanbase have been posting nonstop ever since this trade occurred, but seeing Doncic playing with the joy that he exhibited in Dallas for so long in a Lakers uniform was a total different experience. While all Doncic and Mavericks fans likely wish him the best going forward, it doesn't make moving on from him any easier, and it was extremely bittersweet seeing how well Doncic played in his Lakers debut as well as realizing the vengeance he will play against the Mavericks with. Without further ado, here we grade Doncic's debut in Los Angeles.

Albeit the Lakers were facing a 12-39 Utah team and Doncic was on a 30-minute restriction because of not playing since Christmas, Doncic looked very solid in his Lakers' debut. Doncic finished with 14 points, five rebounds, and four assists on a modest 5-14 shooting from the field in 24 minutes of action, as his dynamic offensive repertoire transcended the Lakers' spacing, and he was moving fairly mobile for just having came off injury.

It may take some time for Doncic to get his legs underneath him as far as his shot as concerned, as he struggled to can step-back 3-pointers at his idealistic rate in this contest, but Doncic amplified the Lakers' offense to a tee through his court vision and dribble penetration. Doncic scored at all three levels in this game, and NBA fans can already see how difficult it will be to deal with two huge and physical playmakers in Doncic and LeBron James respectively.

Doncic even played solid defense in this contest, and it's clear he is motivated as ever to disprove Harrison's idea to trade him. The Lakers may have not needed Doncic to play at an MVP caliber level since they were blowing the Jazz out handily by halftime, but Doncic played a sound offensive game in a game where a ton of eyeballs were on him.

It wouldn't be surprising if the Lakers come out on top of the Mavericks in this deal even if one is only taking into consideration this season and isn't looking at any of the longterm ramifications of this trade, as James' fit with Doncic already looked fairly seamless in their debut together, and it would be expected that they could make some major noise in the playoffs once they really start clicking together.