Shock and awe in NBA as Luka Doncic gets traded to Lakers with Anthony Davis headed to Mavericks

There was shock and awe in the NBA after an incredulous trade between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers saw Luka Doncic heading to Los Angeles along with Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris. The Mavs, meanwhile, will receive Anthony Davis and Max Chrie, besides a future draft pick.
Doncic dragged Dallas to the NBA Finals last season while Davis won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The deal sees reigning Western Conference champion Mavericks trading away a player in Doncic who they thought as a player that a franchise’s legacy can be built around.
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Moreover, there has been no inkling in the league that either Doncic or Davis wanted to be traded. Or that Mavericks and Lakers were looking to do away with their crown jewels.
The deal will see Doncic join forces with LeBron James, who is chasing his fifth NBA title, and his second with the Lakers before he calls time on his career. Davis, meanwhile, links up with Kyrie Irving in Dallas. Both players have been deputies to LeBron in the NBA: both duos won a NBA title each.
01Who are Anthony Davis and Luka Doncic?Among players with at least 400 games, Doncic’s 28.6-point average is third in NBA hory behind only Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain — both at 30.1. When healthy, he’s typically somewhere between dynamic and unstoppable.
He was third in the MVP voting last season after averaging 33.9 points, 9.8 asss and 9.2 rebounds per game, easily one of the greatest statical seasons in league hory. Doncic — who turns 26 later this month and has referred 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.
And for Doncic, there could be a massive — $115 million — cost to this trade.
Doncic could have signed a supermax contract this coming summer, one that could have paid him about $345 million over five seasons. He’s still extension-eligible, but likely cannot sign a five-year deal worth more than $230 million this summer now.
Doncic is averaging 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 asss this season. Davis is averaging 25.7 points and 11.9 rebounds.
(Via The Associated Press)

The Associated Press quoting a source on condition of anonymity reported that the Utah Jazz are also involved in the deal.
ESPN, which first reported the trade, said Jalen Hood-Schifino and two draft picks will be headed to the Jazz. The Dallas Morning News also reported those details on the trade.Story continues below this ad
The news of the trade broke just after the Lakers beat New York at Madison Square Garden. And while Davis was not with the Lakers for the game, the official news was that he had an abdominal injury that needed assessing.
Doncic, meanwhile, has not played for Dallas since Chrmas Day, when he was sidelined with a strained left calf.
The deal was met with shock and awe in the league. As the AP reported, the Phoenix vs Portland game still going on in the NBA on Saturday night when reports began swirling of the trade. When Suns guard Devin Booker was told about the trade, he first thought Lakers had got Luka Garza, the Minnesota center.
“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.”Story continues below this ad
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.”
And there was immediate shock on social media when the news hit as well.
“Luka getting traded from Dallas has to have a deeper story behind it,” Cleveland center Tran Thompson wrote on X. “This just doesn’t happen on a random Saturday night.”
“Wait what?” posted Patrick Mahomes, the star Kansas City quarterback who sits courtside at Mavs games occasionally during the offseason, NBA playoffs included.Story continues below this ad
And Knicks guard Jalen Brunson wondered in another post if it was a joke: “April fools right?” he asked.