In one of the most stunning trades in NBA history, the Mavericks and Lakers agreed to swap superstars Saturday night.
Luka Doncic is headed to Los Angeles in exchange for Anthony Davis.
Other picks and players are also on the move, but the rare star-for-star NBA challenge trade is the headline. Both teams are in Western Conference contention, with the 28–19 Lakers sitting at No. 5 and the 26–23 Mavs at No. 8, two and a half games back from avoiding the play-in.
The move makes little sense on the surface, as the 25-year-old Doncic was the cornerstone of a Dallas team that went to the Finals last summer. Doncic has finished in the top eight in MVP voting in each of the last five seasons and was set to receive a five-year, $345 million supermax contract extension this summer, a deal he can’t get now.
Doncic has another year remaining on his contract at $45.9 million with a player option for the 2026-27 season. Davis is under contract through then at $54 million next year and $58 million the following year before a player option in 2027-28.
The trade could cost Doncic tens of millions in salary, although that depends on what permutations play out with the Lakers this summer. The move also gets Dallas under the luxury tax, although that could change ahead of the NBA’s trade deadline this Thursday.
While Davis is one of the best bigs of his era, he’s six years older than Doncic and has struggled with injuries since helping the Lakers win a title in the 2020 bubble season.
The situation became clearer late Saturday in an ESPN story published after midnight that had Mavericks sources telling ESPN’s Dave McMenamin the team was tired of Doncic’s habits.
Among the lines attributed to sources in the ESPN story:
- “The Mavericks were motivated to move Doncic due to his constant conditioning concerns…”
- “There had been significant frustration within the organization about Doncic’s lack of discipline regarding his diet and conditioning, which team sources considered a major factor in his injury issues.”
- “his weight ballooned to the high 260s early this season…”
- “He sat out five games in late November, when the Mavs listed him with a sprained right wrist, an extended absence to allow Doncic to focus on his conditioning. He had a similar early-season layoff in the 2022-23 season.”
In the same story, Mavs GM Nico Harrison gave his on-the-record justification for the trade. “I believe that defense wins championships,” he told ESPN. “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.”
Doncic led the league in scoring last year but had appeared in less than half of the Mavs games this year while dealing with a calf injury—and, apparently, conditioning issues.
The league has yet to formally approve the trade as of the wee hours of Sunday morning. But this is the framework, according to ESPN, which also reported Dallas initiated the trade offer:
- Lakers receive: Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris (all from Mavericks)
- Mavericks receive: Davis, Max Christie, 2029 first-round pick (all from Lakers)
- Jazz receive: Jalen Hood-Schifino (from Lakers), 2025 Mavericks second-round pick, 2025 Clippers second-round pick
The trade shocked the NBA in the late hours of Saturday night into early Sunday.
Shams Charania went on ESPN airwaves after midnight to explain that none of the players directly involved, nor LeBron James, knew the wild trade was afoot.
“Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, LeBron James, the players, coaches—a lot of people on both sides… had no idea this was coming,” Sharania said. “James had no idea this was coming. Anthony Davis had no idea this was coming. I’m told Luka Doncic is still stunned about this trade.”
Sharania added that the Mavericks’ approach was the first time the Lakers had ever offered Davis in a trade. The Dallas Morning News reported the deal took “several weeks” for the teams to hammer out, but ESPN reported the negotiations “began a few days ago.”
James called a CBS Sports report that he was “frustrated” with Davis a “fkn lie” shortly before 2 a.m. Eastern Sunday.
“LeBron has dreamed of playing with Luka Doncic for years,” Charania’s ESPN colleague Brian Windhorst said as reality settled in. Windhorst called the deal “a rebuke” of Doncic by the Mavericks, an undeniable reality given the price they fetched for a 25-year-old superstar.
Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki simply posted a stunned emoji, while Hall of Fame columnist David Aldridge called it a “Holy S–t trade.” ESPN analyst and former Nets assistant GM Bobby Marks said that he had “never seen so many team executives not involved in this trade stunned.”
This is the second major development to rock the Mavericks in the last two years. In late 2023, Mark Cuban sold 72.3% of the team to casino magnate and heavyweight Republican donor Miriam Adelson for more than $3 billion. Adelson’s son-in-law Patrick Dumont is the team’s governor.
The Lakers are set to host the Mavericks on Feb. 25.
This is a developing news story.
