Luka Doncic’s trade to the Los Angeles Lakers gives the NBA a much-needed shake-up, says Chris Bosh

SINGAPORE – The basketball world is still reeling days after Luka Doncic’s shock trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, but two-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion Chris Bosh believes the blockbuster move will be good for the league.

In an interview at Marina Bay Sands on Feb 6, he told The Straits Times: “It was crazy, but crazy things happen.

“I think the league was due for a shake-up. I was telling people, whether you like it or not, it’s exciting, and that’ll make more people tune in.”

The 40-year-old was in town for a media announcement by the NBA – on Feb 6, the organisation said it has signed a multi-year collaboration with Sport Singapore and the Singapore Tourism Board to bring a series of NBA events to Singapore.

Like many in the fraternity, including even Lakers great LeBron James, news on Feb 2 that the Dallas Mavericks were trading away five-time NBA All-Star Doncic in exchange for Lakers big man Anthony Davis as part of a three-team deal came as a complete surprise.

Bosh, who won Olympic gold at Beijing 2008, noted that many had expected Doncic to stay in Dallas for his entire NBA career.

The Slovenian joined the outfit in 2018 and was in the middle of a five-year US$215 million (S$290.1 million) contract that he signed in 2022. The trade cost Doncic the chance to ink a US$345 million supermax contract extension in the off-season – which would have been the richest deal in NBA history.

The 2023-24 scoring champion last season led the Mavericks to the Finals for the first time since 2011, when they won their only NBA title.

But Bosh feels the move to the Lakers could take Doncic’s game to the next level. He said: “It was different, it’s exciting and maybe for Luka, it will light a fire under him, and he can, which as crazy as it sounds, maybe excel and improve his game and it’ll work for the Lakers too.”

While the Mavs have been widely panned for trading a 25-year-old generational talent for a 31-year-old, Bosh believes it could benefit both teams.

In 10-time All-Star Davis, Dallas have one of the league’s top defensive players, while Los Angeles’ acquisition of Doncic will prepare them for life after James, who is 40.

Bosh said: “Dallas seems like a move towards win now and flexibility for later. Because let’s be frank, Luka’s potential contract... was going to take up quite a bit of cap space, and I’m sure they were looking at that and how they’re going to be competing in the future.

“For the Lakers, you got LeBron, you got Luka. Even after LeBron retires, Luka will be there, and people will want to play with him and want to play in LA, so both teams kind of got what they wanted.”

Some observers have questioned whether James and Doncic, both ball-dominant players, will be able to coalesce, but not Bosh.

Having been teammates with James at the Miami Heat, where they won two NBA titles together, the 11-time NBA All-Star believes in the potential of a Doncic-James axis.

Bosh, who retired in 2019 due to a blood clotting condition, added: “One of the great parts about basketball is that you get two great players together, or three or four, or a great team together, and you can figure out how to play.

“It’s not a pair of superstars that the league hasn’t seen before. They’re smart guys. They’ll figure it out, it’ll be a test of their IQ in the game.”

Aside from the fireworks in the NBA, basketball fans in Singapore will be able to catch a new, multi-day basketball and entertainment festival here in June. It will culminate in the NBA Rising Stars Invitational, the league’s first regional high school basketball tournament.

The competition at the Kallang Alive precinct from June 25 to 29 will feature boys’ and girls’ teams from 10 countries and territories across the Asia-Pacific.

NBA Asia managing director Wayne Chang said the tournament aims to capitalise on basketball’s popularity in Asia. He added: “Our goal with the NBA Rising Stars Invitational is to build on that momentum and provide a stage for top players to compete alongside and against their peers from across the region.”

The event, he noted, “will help accelerate and elevate the basketball ecosystem in Asia-Pacific, while serving as a viable pathway for players to receive additional basketball training”.