Goooooood morning, NBA fans!
During the cover of night, the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks decided to shake up the world of basketball, conducting a trade that most wouldn’t even dare pull off in NBA 2K.
The Lakers acquired Luka Dončić, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris from Dallas, which sent back Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick.
(The Utah Jazz were looped in as a third team, receiving Jalen Hood-Schifino, and two 2025 second-round picks. But with all due respect to the Jazz here, who cares?)
This trade is obviously about the Lakers and Mavericks. No one reportedly saw this coming. Be honest. Who had Maxi Kleber getting traded on their bingo card?
Joking aside, let’s grade the trade.
Mavericks: B-
The Mavericks reportedly approached the Lakers about moving off Dončić, one of the best players in the NBA, and an international superstar, during the very beginning of his prime.
Mavericks general manager, Nico Harrison, told ESPN he believes defense wins championships, which is a fine ideology if you still live in 1989. Yes, Davis is arguably a top-5 player in the league, and at worst a top-2, two-way player when it comes to defensive and offensive impact. That said, and with Davis deserving every superlative under the sun …
Huh?
Davis is about to turn 32. He and Kyrie Irving will have a short window to win a title, and if they don’t win, it will have cost the Mavericks — who made the Finals last year with Dončić, by the way — a 25-year-old superstar who would have had at least another 7-8 years of elite play in him.
This is a supremely weird trade by the Mavericks, even when taking into account the reported conditioning concerns that Dallas experienced with Dončić over the course of his career there.
But looking back is pointless. It’s now all about the future, both the immediate and the long-term. And the Mavericks relinquished all of it for a limited shot at a title, in a league where there are no guarantees.
No, there weren’t any guarantees with Dončić either, but at least he had age on his side, and at least he helmed them to the Finals last year.
The Mavs have to win the whole damn thing for this to not blow up in their face. It all boils down to whether we believe in their project and, uh, let’s just say there are questions ahead.
How do you give a team A+ for one season (this one), and a C for the next five years? That’s the challenge we’re up against here.
This is the most fluid B- in the history of grades.
Lakers: A+
You can’t go under an A here, and probably not even under an A+, if we assume Dončić is going to be the same playoff killer he’s always been. The conditioning concerns are fair, but until we see those issues keep him from playing at a ridiculous level, you can’t use them as a real argument.
How do the Lakers keep getting away with this?
This organization just made one of the biggest trades in years, using a great player, yes, but one who’s nearing the end of his prime, and an unknown 2029 selection, to acquire a player — nay, THE player — to transition them off the LeBron James era.
This is obviously a major slam dunk for the Lakers, even including potential conditioning issues.
Did they get better for the remainder of this season? It depends on how Dončić returns from injury. He’s been out since Christmas Day, after going down with a calf injury against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It is safe to say, however, they got better in the long-term, and for the Lakers, perhaps that was the motivation all along, even if it comes at the expense of James’ last years.
What will be an interesting subplot to all of this is how Dončić will view this situation. He, like Davis and James, was reportedly not informed about the trade prior to it happening, and it’s unknown whether he’s even interested in being a Laker long-term.
Perhaps he is, and everything is fine. But Dončić can opt out in 2026 and seek his fortunes elsewhere. Having now experienced being traded, it’s more likely Dončić will no longer believe much in loyalty from teams, and thus decide to carve out his own path.
Perhaps he could ask his old pal in Denver to force the organization to clear cap space for that summer?
Whatever happens, one thing is for sure. The NBA world just got shook to its core. If Luka Dončić of all players can get traded, everything is fair game.
We could be in for one hell of a trade deadline.
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