What Would Have Been a Luka Doncic-Like Trade for Past Washington Nationals Star?
A blockbuster trade took place in the NBA over the weekend, and it has begged the question of "what might have been?" for the Washington Nationals and their former superstar.
The Los Angeles Lakers acquired young phenom Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks for veteran Anthony Davis, and it sent the sports world into a tailspin.
Many have questioned the Mavericks' decision-making process on the matter, wondering why they traded one of the best players in the sport who has yet to reach his prime.
What would it look like if the Nationals did the same thing in the middle of the 2016 season with their own superstar, Bryce Harper?
At the time, Harper was coming off of his first National League MVP campaign in 2015, one of the best single seasons in the history of MLB.
The superstar batted .330/.460/.649 with 42 home runs, 99 RBI and a 198 OPS+, announcing his arrival at the top of the mountain in a gargantuan way.
As things played out in real life, Harper spent three more years with Washington before departing for the Philadelphia Phillies in free agency, but let's assume he was traded ahead of the 2016 MLB trade deadline.
2016 was Harper's age-23 campaign, and fifth in MLB. The equivalent to Doncic for Davis at the time would boil down to Harper for the reigning American League MVP, third baseman Josh Donaldson.
Donaldson's MVP campaign saw the veteran bat .297/.371/.568 with 41 home runs, 123 RBI and a 151 OPS+ in his age-29 season with the Toronto Blue Jays.
2016 would prove to be a better showing for the veteran with a 157 OPS+, but a steep decline would follow and continue as he fizzled out through his last year in MLB in 2023.
Many have looked at the Doncic-Davis trade as vastly one-sided, but Davis is one of the best defensive centers in the NBA and can be an asset to the Mavericks for at least the remainder of this season.
Donaldson would have been a valuable asset for the Nationals in this hypothetical bizarro world trade before entering free agency where he signed with the Atlanta Braves in real life.
Trade hypotheticals are fun to think about, but that is just what they are, hypotheticals.
Who is to say that trading Harper would not have had an adverse ripple effect that kept Washington out of the 2019 World Series, or even a positive effect that saw the team win it all even sooner?
While the Mavericks and Lakers trade will be looked at as one of the most surprising blockbuster deals in sports history for quite some time, Harper stuck around before leaving in free agency and becoming an even better player than he already was for a divisional rival.
The world will never know what a Harper trade would have consisted of, and for that, we should be forever grateful.
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