Injured Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic smiles as he holds the game ball in a time out during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday, January 22, 2025 in Dallas (AP Photo/LM Otero)
By TIM REYNOLDS
The trade was put together in secret, with only a precious few people knowing what was happening. Luka Doncic didn’t know. Anthony Davis didn’t know. Their coaches didn’t know. Their teammates didn’t know.
And then it happened — an absolute blockbuster. Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, Davis won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 and now they’re switching teams in a move that stunned most everyone in the league.
Doncic was traded by the reigning Western Conference champion Mavericks to the Lakers for Davis as part of a three-deal deal. The trade was announced Sunday morning after the teams got the required league approval.
The trade talks, which took place over about a month, were kept extremely tight-lipped by Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and Lakers GM Rob Pelinka.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd’s first reaction? “Shock,” Kidd said, though he later added that he believes it’s the right move for his team going forward.
Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris also headed to the Lakers, while Max Christie went to Dallas. The Utah Jazz also were involved, getting Jalen Hood-Schifino and a 2025 second-rounder from both the Mavs and Lakers.
“Sports are about transformative moments,” Pelinka said. “We are inspired by these moments Lakers fans know, expect and love with a franchise that continually ushers in new eras of greatness. … Luka is a one-of-a-kind, young global superstar who will lead this franchise for years to come. His killer instincts and commitment to winning championships will be a driving force for the team.”
The trade news broke shortly after the Lakers beat the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Davis was not with the Lakers for the game; he has been in Los Angeles because of an abdominal injury that needed assessing.
Doncic has not played for Dallas since Christmas, when he exited a game with a strained left calf. The trade may come at a serious price for Doncic, who now can’t sign a five-year supermax contract extension this summer that could have been worth around $345 million.
It was never clear if the Mavs would have offered such a massive deal. Doncic also would have had an option to leave as a free agent after the 2025-26 season, and it’s certain that other teams with hopes of landing the Slovenian star would have planned for such scenarios.
“There’s other teams that were loading up,” Harrison said Sunday. “He was going to be able to make his own decision at some point of whether he wants to be here or not, whether we want to supermax him or not, or whether he wants to opt out. We had to take all that into consideration and I feel like we got out in front of what could have been a tumultuous summer.”
Doncic is still eligible for an extension this summer, with the max that the Lakers could offer him being five years at about $230 million — a $115 million difference than what the supermax could have been.
“Luka absolutely did not deserve this. … He really respected Dallas,” Sasa Doncic, Luka’s father, said on Slovenian television Sunday.
The deal pairs Doncic with LeBron James as the new 1-2 punch in Los Angeles, while Davis would be forming a new star duo with Kyrie Irving in Dallas. And it reunites Doncic with his former teammate, Lakers coach JJ Redick.
Doncic was one of the Mavericks players on the floor when Redick came out of a game for the final time on May 11, 2021.
For the Mavericks, the decision largely came down to what Davis does on the defensive end of the floor.
“We think defense wins championships and we’re bringing in one of the best two-way players in the league,” Harrison said. He added that Davis’ ability to be elite at both ends makes him “a unique unicorn” in the NBA.
“We feel like we’re built to win now as well as in the future,” Harrison said.
There was one game still going on in the NBA late Saturday night as the trade began emerging, that being Phoenix-Portland. Suns guard Devin Booker said someone in the stands told him and his teammates of the trade.
“They said Luka. I said, ‘Luka Garza?’” Booker said, referencing a Minnesota center.
Booker wasn’t trying to be funny. He just thought what many probably thought — that there was no way the Mavs would move Doncic.
“It’s crazy, man. I really don’t know what to say about it,” Booker said. “Luka being a guy that everybody has claimed is untouchable and untradeable. The NBA shows you again. Can’t predict. It’s a business. They’re always having a conversation about you. So don’t think you’re safer than you are.”
Added fellow Suns star Kevin Durant: “Insane. It’s crazy. Crazy. Damn, would of never thought Luka Doncic would get traded. At his age, midseason, the NBA is a wild place, man. If he can get traded then anybody is up for grabs.”
Dallas played at Cleveland on Sunday, while the Lakers are off until visiting the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. It’s not clear when Doncic or Davis could play for their new clubs; there is no firm timetable for their returns from injury.
Among players with at least 400 games, Doncic’s 28.6-point average is third in NBA history behind only Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain — both at 30.1.
He was third in the MVP voting last season after averaging 33.9 points, 9.8 assists and 9.2 rebounds per game, easily one of the greatest seasons in league history. Doncic — who turns 26 later this month and refers to James as an “idol” — had a 73-point game against Atlanta on Jan. 26, 2024, tying the fourth-highest scoring total ever in an NBA game. Only Chamberlain (100), Kobe Bryant (81) and Chamberlain (78) scored more.
Davis, an All-Star pick this year for the 10th time in his career, turns 32 next month. He’s part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team, helped the Lakers win the NBA title in the bubble in 2020, and — like Doncic — is a five-time All-NBA selection.
Doncic is averaging 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists this season. Davis is averaging 25.7 points and 11.9 rebounds.
Harrison understands the risk and the anger among some in the Mavs fan base; some people protested outside the team’s arena in Dallas on Sunday. He has traded away a young superstar, someone who easily could be one of the game’s best players for the next decade, for a player in his 30s with a challenging injury history.
“I understand the magnitude of it,” Harrison said. “The easiest thing for me to do is do nothing and everyone would praise me for doing nothing. But we really believe in it and time will tell if I’m right.”
