Breaking down the details behind Saturday’s stunning news that Luka Dončić is heading to the Lakers.
In a trade agreement so stunning observers questioned whether his social media account had been hacked, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports that the Mavericks have agreed to send perennial Kia NBA MVP candidate Luka Dončić to the Lakers in exchange for 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis, reserve guard Max Christie and a 2029 first-round draft pick.
Multiple outlets confirmed the news as the NBA’s media apparatus roused on what had been an otherwise nondescript Saturday night. The three-team deal, in which Los Angeles acquires veteran forwards Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris, will reportedly also include Utah.
Los Angeles Lakers get:
Dallas Mavericks get:
Utah Jazz get:
Mavericks general manager Nico Harris cited Davis’ defense, telling ESPN his skills on that end “give us a better chance” to win. Known far more for his offensive prowess, the 6-foot-8 Dončić — who led the NBA in scoring last season at 33.9 points per game — has been nursing a calf strain since late December.
BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Three-team deal that includes Utah.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025
Dončić, 25, has blossomed into one of the most productive players in NBA history since his arrival in 2018. He’s finished no worse than sixth in Kia MVP voting in four of the past five seasons while amassing career averages of 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists.
Teaming with eight-time All-Star Kyrie Irving, Dončić lead Dallas to last year’s Finals for its first appearance in the championship round since the Mavericks won the title in 2011.
Davis, 31, followed a similar path before him, earning a decade’s worth of All-Star appearances as one of the elite players of his generation while leading the Lakers to the 2019-20 NBA championship. He’s on pace for the 10th 20-point, 10-rebound season of his career with current averages of 25.7 points and 11.9 boards.
Davis and LeBron James had been publicly campaigning for the Lakers to acquire a center to pair with the Kentucky product up front. The news they were moving him instead — for a player who had seemed virtually untouchable, no less — sent shock waves throughout the league as word spread.
That apparently included James himself, who had not been apprised of the trade according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
LeBron James learned of the Davis-Doncic trade after the Knicks game when it broke while he was out to dinner with his family, sources close to James told ESPN. James was surprised by the news, is processing it and had no idea it was in the works, sources said.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 2, 2025
There was one game still going on 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 center.
Booker wasn’t trying to be funny. He just thought what many probably thought — that there was no way the Mavericks would move Dončić.
“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 Dončić 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.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report