Photo by Niklas Du, CC-0 on Unsplash
Date: February 12, 2025

By: Rishi Mistry

What just happened!? Luka Doncic, the face of the Dallas Mavericks, their franchise player, has just been traded away! The basketball community is absolutely dumbfounded right now after hearing about this. On Saturday, February 1st, around 11pm, news broke out that Luka Doncic along with Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris had been traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first round draft pick. 

Let’s go in depth about why this trade has caused such a disturbance within the NBA community. Firstly, Luka Doncic is a generational talent. He is one of the great stars of our league right now, and since he’s only at the young age of 25, he has lots of time to develop his talent and become an even bigger success. The main player the Mavericks received in return was Anthony Davis. While Anthony Davis is a great centre, Dallas has already had a couple decent centres in Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II. Anthony Davis is also 31 years old, and has a big problem with injuries. He is also past his prime and the age factor is starting to creep into his play style. Luka Doncic is also one of the top 5 players of the NBA, and has been for a couple years now. He is incredible on offense, and led his team to the NBA finals last year where they lost to the Boston Celtics. Players with this skill level are rarely ever traded, and players like this include Steph Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokic, who have all stayed on the same team their whole career because of the amount of skill they possess. This really sparks the question into the Mavericks head office as to why they would trade away such a young talent with so much potential ahead. 

The aftermath of this trade helps show how impactful a trade like this was. After the trade happened Saturday night, many Mavericks fans showed up outside the building Sunday morning chanting, “sell the team.” The Mavericks owner was booed at the game a couple days ago and even received death threats, showing how serious this move was. Lakers star Lebron James was even shocked, originally thinking the trade was a “hoax.” In conclusion, this has to be one of the biggest trades the NBA has ever seen, and Lebron James paired up with Luka Doncic could prove to be a powerful force in the future. 

Works Cited

    Haggerty, Meredith, and Dylan Scott. “The Luka Dončić Trade Controversy, Explained for People Who Simply Love Mess.” Vox, 5 Feb. 2025, http://www.vox.com/culture/398321/luka-doncic-trade-controversy-mavericks-lakers-explained.

      Jones, Bill. “Dallas Mavericks Confirm Luka Doncic to Lakers in Shocking NBA Blockbuster.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 4 Feb. 2025, http://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/dallas-mavericks-confirm-luka-doncic-to-lakers-shocking-trade/.