The basketball world was absolutely shocked on Saturday night when news came down that the Los Angeles Lakers had acquired Luka Doncic in exchange for Anthony Davis. Coincidentally, this isn’t the first time the Lakers shocked the world on Feb. 1 as on that same day back in 2008, the franchise acquired another international star in Pau Gasol.
The similarities in the deal are striking, most notably that there was no inkling that either player was available and the Lakers were able to acquire both Gasol and Doncic without a bidding war breaking out with other teams.