The Mavericks shocked the world of basketball by trading Luka Doncic to the Lakers in a massive, blockbuster trade in exchange for Anthony Davis. The trade was broken by a tweet by ESPN analyst Shams Charania at around 11 p.m. on Saturday night, which blindsided everyone.
In this blockbuster trade, the Lakers received Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris, and the Mavericks received Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and the Lakers’ 2029 first round draft pick in the trade. The Utah Jazz were also involved in this trade, as they received Jalen-Hood Schifino, a second round draft pick from the Lakers, and a second round pick from the Mavericks.
According to several sources, the Mavericks are betting against Doncic’s conditioning, reasoning that Doncic’s conditioning, or lack of it, has led to several injuries for the superstar. The Mavericks were then willing to sell Doncic to preserve all of the capital spent on him while they still could trade him.
In a press conference, Nico Harrison, the GM of the Mavericks told an ESPN reporter that the main reason he made the shocking deal was because of his belief that “Defense wins championships, and Anthony Davis will boost our Defense.”
According to ESPN reporters Ramona Shelburne and Tim MacMahon, talks began in Dallas when Nico Harrison, the GM of the Mavericks, met with Lakers GM Rob Pelinka in a Dallas coffee shop. From there, discussions then included Jazz GM Justin Zanik, and a deal was made.
Each man agreed that nothing should be leaked to the press, unless the public backlash became too great for any of the three, and one of them would be forced to back out of a deal.
Giannis Antenekeumpo, the Milwaukee Bucks superstar, said that he thought the trade was “AI generated, fake news” when he first saw the news that Doncic was traded.
Stephen A. Smith, commentator on ESPN’s First Take, said that he believes that the trade makes the Dallas Mavericks “a contender in the Western Conference.”
Kevin Durant said he was stunned by the trade.
“Insane. It’s crazy. It’s crazy,” Durant said. “I would have never thought Luka Doncic would get traded at this age, mid-season… the NBA is a wild place, man. If he can get traded then anybody’s up for grabs.”
Several sources familiar with the deal say that Lebron James wasn’t consulted on the deal, and learned about the trade when it was leaked on X. The same sources say that Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis were also in the dark about the trade as well.
The idea that the biggest superstar in the NBA was kept in the dark about the trade is absurd and confirms just how secret the trade was kept from the rest of the world.
This deal signals that the Lebron James era in Los Angeles is at an end, and the Luka Doncic era in LA is just beginning. For the Dallas Mavericks, this is a chance to win an NBA championship, and Anthony Davis will help their defense massively. Only time will tell who won this trade, but the world of the NBA has been permanently changed forever, whether for the best or the worst.
