SI

Blazers Players Were Visibly Shocked As They Learned of Luka-AD Trade Mid-Game

Matisse Thybulle was all of us.

Tyler Lauletta

Matisse Thybulle reacts after finding out of Lakers-Mavericks trade.
Matisse Thybulle reacts after finding out of Lakers-Mavericks trade. / @ChrisScorch / X
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Late Saturday night, ESPN insider Shams Charania sent the NBA world into a frenzy with a single post—the Dallas Mavericks were trading superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis in a three-team deal with several more pieces involved.

The immediate reactions amongst the NBA zeitgeist were shock and disbelief. What were the Mavericks thinking? Did Shams get hacked? Is this the biggest trade in the history of the NBA?

As it turns out, many NBA players were reacting to the news in the same way the rest of us at home were—by staring at their phones in disbelief.

While the Portland Trail Blazers took on the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night, cameras caught the Blazers’ bench's reaction as the news spread like wildfire.

While everyone was struggling to accept the new reality of the deal, it was the face of Matisse Thybulle that really said it all.

Although the Blazers might have struggled to come to terms with the deal last night, the Luka Lakers will be very real to them very soon—Portland travels to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers on Feb. 20.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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