Mavericks trade Luka Doncic to Lakers for Anthony Davis in stunning 3-team blockbuster

Luka Doncic led Dallas to the NBA Finals last season. Anthony Davis won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers.

They have switched teams now — in an absolute blockbuster.

Doncic has been traded by the reigning Western Conference champion Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers for Davis. The trade was announced Sunday morning, after the teams got the required league approval on all the terms involved in the deal.

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. Among those not in the know until the end of the process: Mavs coach Jason Kidd.

His 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 about an hour after the Lakers beat New York at Madison Square Garden. Davis was not with the Lakers for the game; he has been back 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 US.

It was never clear if the Mavs would have offered such a massive deal. Doncic would have also had an option to leave as a free agent after the 2025-26 season if he wanted, and it's certain that other teams would have — and probably already were — planning for that scenario with hopes of landing the Slovenian star.

"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 extension eligible 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.

New star duos

The deal, at least for now, 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 also 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 defence 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 on Saturday night when reports began swirling of the trade, 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 centre.

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."

Shock on social media

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 centre Tristan 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 off-season, NBA playoffs included.

And Knicks guard Jalen Brunson wondered in another post if it was a joke: "April fools right?" he asked.

Evidently not.

Dallas plays 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, since both are dealing with injuries without any publicly known firm timetable for their returns.

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. 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 assists and 9.2 rebounds per game, easily one of the greatest statistical seasons in league history. 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.

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.