The NBA is the king of blockbuster trades among US sports, with stars on the move every season and often in league-altering ways.
But the NBA outdid itself Sunday mornig when ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news that the Dallas Mavericks were sending franchise player Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for future Hall of Famer Anthony Davis in a three-team trade, pairing the young guard with LeBron James.
To say the Mavericks’ decision was met with shock is an understatement.
There were no rumblings about this trade. There was no slow drip of reports about discontent between the Mavs and Doncic (the dam broke after, though, but there will be more on that later). And no initial rumors of trade talks or other potential deals.
Just BAM! Deal done. Dallas’ hero was no more. And once again, the Lakers came out on top.
Fans on social media, especially Mavericks faithful, were in such a state of disbelief that some were convinced Charania had been hacked. People took to the streets in Dallas and protested outside the Mavericks’ arena.
Even NBA players thought it was a joke.
And it’s easy to understand everyone’s struggle to accept this new reality. Doncic isn’t just a star player. He’s a 25-year-old perennial MVP contender coming off an NBA Finals appearance last season. Players of his pedigree and age are pretty much untouchable.
Also, unlike most NBA stars who are traded, Doncic didn’t request to be moved. In fact, in his statement bidding farewell to Dallas, he said he never thought about leaving the Mavericks.
“I thought I’d spend my career here and I wanted so badly to bring you a championship,” Doncic wrote.
So why did this happen? Let’s make sense of this wild trade.
Did the Mavericks at least get a good deal for Doncic?
In short, no. In long, helllllllll nooooo!
Dallas got back Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round draft pick. The Lakers also received Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris. Meanwhile, the third team in the trade, the Utah Jazz, landed Lakers guard Jalen Hood-Schifino and two second-round picks.
That’s it for the Mavericks. One. First. Round. Pick. Davis is a 10-time All-Star, a one-time NBA champion, and one of the league’s premier defenders. But he’s 31 years old and has a long injury history.
Getting him back in this deal softens the blow a tiny bit, but it’s still a mind-bogglingly lopsided transaction.
Let’s put that one first-round pick into perspective: Paul George was traded for five first-round picks when he moved from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019. Kevin Durant netted four first-round picks for the Brooklyn Nets when he jumped to the Phoenix Suns in 2023. The Nets shipped off Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks for five-round picks less than a year ago.
These massive returns are commonplace in the NBA, and a deal for Doncic could’ve — and should’ve — eclipsed them all.
Was the Lakers’ offer the Mavericks’ only option then?
It was, but only by choice.
According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Tim MacMahon, Dallas general manager Nico Harrison decided against shopping Doncic, instead picking his target (Davis) and entering secret talks with Lakers GM and longtime friend Rob Pelinka last month.
No one else apparently knew about the details of the deal, even the Jazz, until it was basically done.
The fact Harrison didn’t create a bidding war by letting other teams know Doncic was available is almost as unbelievable as trading the star in the first place.
Teams would’ve all but handed over the keys to their stadiums for even a shot at landing Doncic. A Western Conference executive said it best, telling Shelburne and MacMahon that Harrison’s decision to only negotiate with the Lakers was “unfathomable.”
No one knew, not even LeBron James?
Apparently not. James reportedly found out about Doncic’s imminent arrival a few minutes before Charania broke the news on social media.
Now, whether you believe that is another matter. James is often viewed as the de facto GM for his team because of his influence on the roster around him, and he handpicked Davis as his running mate in L.A.
So if Doncic is so good, and the trade return was so bad, what in the world were the Mavericks thinking?
Doncic is a generational talent who led the NBA in scoring last season. His ability to carry his team, despite its deficiencies, has been likened to James himself.
But Doncic apparently doesn’t have the legendary work ethic of his new teammate.
The Mavericks — and Harrison especially — had reportedly become frustrated with Doncic’s poor conditioning. He missed 27 games this season and gained weight during his most recent absence caused by a calf injury, delaying his return to the court.
Harrison made an eye-raising statement during his Sunday press conference about the trade, saying he felt the team “got out in front of what could have been a tumultuous summer.”
This comment was about the looming five-year, $345-million supermax deal Doncic would’ve been eligible for this summer (and now isn’t due to the NBA’s rules to entice players to stay with their original teams).
It would’ve been the richest deal in league history. Harrison seemingly had major reservations about committing record money to a player, even one as talented as Doncic, that they didn’t fully trust.
The Mavericks drama aside, a Doncic-James duo makes the Lakers instant contenders this season, right?
Maybe. They definitely have a better chance than they did before the move when they looked stuck firmly in the Western Conference’s second tier. The Lakers saw their title odds shorten dramatically, going from +5000 on Bet365 to +1200 to win it all.
The 40-year-old James is years past his prime, but he continues to hold off Father Time as few athletes have ever done; he ranks 18th in points per game (24) and fourth in assists per game (9.1) while nearly playing 35 minutes per game.
Doncic is nearly back to full health, and he and James will instantly form one of the best duos in the NBA. How quickly they can gel will determine if the Lakers can make noise in the postseason.
But L.A. will likely need to make another move or two to help fill the void left by Davis on defense. Even then, the Thunder and the Boston Celtics remain the clear favorites for the NBA title.
What does Doncic’s arrival mean for James’ future?
Questions about James’ immediate future with the Lakers were quickly squashed, with the legendary player affirming his commitment to the team beyond Thursday’s trade deadline, sources told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
But after that is anyone’s guess. James has said he wants to finish his career in L.A., and he has a no-trade clause, giving him control of his future. But first and foremost, Doncic was brought in to be James’ heir.
James has a player option for next season after signing a two-year extension last offseason. He could opt out and hit free agency, with team-ups with Steph Curry on the Golden State Warriors — who pursued James this time last year — or Durant on the Suns rumored as possibilities.
Basically, watch this space for even more glorious soap opera-like drama.
Where does this leave the Mavericks?
In the short term, the outlook isn’t terrible. Dallas has two stars in Davis and Kyrie Irving, and they’re on course to make the playoffs. Unsurprisingly, though the team’s championship odds for this season dropped significantly from +2000 to +3500 on Bet365.
Even worse, it’s hard to be optimistic about the long-term view. Irving is also on the wrong side of 30 and is notoriously unreliable off the court. With Doncic, the Mavericks had a 10-year window to win its first title since 2011.
Now, Dallas is under enormous pressure to win within a small window of two or maybe three years before Davis and Irving are past their best.
If they don’t, trading Doncic will go down in US sports folklore as perhaps the worst decision in NBA history.
