Luka Doncic heads to the Lakers, Anthony Davis to the Mavericks in shocking blockbuster trade

The Lakers and Mavericks are exchanging franchise stars, with the help of the Jazz, in one of the most surprising transactions in recent history.
The Lakers and Mavericks shocked the NBA world. Without any leaks, they completed one of the biggest trades in league history by agreeing to a deal that will send Luka Doncic, Markieff Morris and Maxi Kleber to Los Angeles, Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick to Dallas, and Jalen Hood-Schfino and two second-rounders to the Jazz. ESPN’s Shams Charania was the first to report it.
It’s hard to overstate how shocking the news of the trade was. Charania is the premier news-breaker in the NBA world, someone who has unlimited credibility when it comes to these matters, and he had to send out a second tweet after his first one saying “Yes, this is real” for people to believe it. No one saw this coming, because while the Mavericks have struggled with Doncic out with injuries and Davis recently expressed the desire to be paired with a traditional center, there were no rumors about either potentially being traded.
The Mavericks were the ones to approach the Lakers about the deal, according to Sharania. They were concerned about committing to a supermax contract considering Doncic’s conditioning issues, according to ESPN’s Tim McMahon.
The Mavs had major concerns about moving forward with Luka Doncic due to his constant conditioning issues and the looming commitment of another supermax contract extension this summer, sources told ESPN.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 2, 2025
The official reason is that they wanted to bolster their defense, according to what Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
“I believe that defense wins championships. I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We’re built to win now and in the future.”
It’s understandable for the Mavericks, who emerge from this trade as a more well-rounded team, to feel like they made a short-term improvement. Kyrie Irving can be their main ball-handler, Klay Thompson and P.J. Washington offer shooting from the wing, and Dallas has two quality centers that can do the dirty work for Davis. The reason why the decision is questionable despite the fit is because Doncic is 25 while Davis is 31 and Davis has traditionally not been durable. He’s done a better job of staying on the floor in recent seasons and moving to power forward full time could help there, but he won’t be as valuable while sharing the floor with another big. Irving and Thompson are aging as well, so the core has a limited shelf life. The Spurs have swap right to Dallas’ 2030 first-round pick, which might now be a much more valuable asset.
For the Lakers, this is a perfect trade to make sure they have a superstar in place as LeBron James inches closer to retirement. The fact that reports say Doncic didn’t ask for a trade and the Mavericks approached General Manager Rob Pelinka is shocking, because when healthy Doncic is a top-five player in the league. He led Dallas to the Finals last season and is in the middle of his prime. The fit with James could be awkward initially and the Lakers will need to upgrade their big man rotation if they want to make noise in this upcoming postseason, but they have secured their future cornerstone, a player that is an offense onto himself and will keep them contending well past James’ retirement if they put the right supporting cast around him.
It’s too early to call who’s the winner in this trade, and it might be everyone involved. What’s clear is this is a seismic event that will change the landscape of the NBA for years to come. There will be a deeper analysis of how this affects the league and the Spurs as more information surfaces.