The Lakers and Mavericks made NBA history overnight in the first trade involving two reigning All-NBA players.
The deal sending forward Anthony Davis to the Mavericks and guard Luka Doncic to the Lakers will have reverberations for months and years to come.
Here are the landmark trade’s immediate winners and losers.
Winner: Los Angeles Lakers
The trade could be more immediately beneficial to the Mavericks, but the Lakers undeniably won the transaction. Anytime a team trades for a five-time All-NBA talent in his mid-20s, it wins.
Doncic guided the Mavericks to a Western Conference title a season ago, averaging 28.9 points during Dallas’ playoff run after leading the league with 33.9 points per game during the regular season.
The Lakers (28-19, fifth in the Western Conference) are heavily dependent on forward LeBron James, 40, and adding Doncic, who turns 26 on Feb. 28, gives the team a young star around whom to build its next contender. Before the trade, Los Angeles would have been aimless when James retired. Now, it has a pillar for a potential future dynasty.
Loser: Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks may have a better chance of winning the NBA title this season because of the deal, but that also reveals why it’s a negative for Dallas. Instead of being set to be a contender for years, the Mavericks (26-23, eighth in Western Conference) have shrunk their championship window.
Davis, 31, is arguably the league’s best two-way player, and his defensive playmaking ability raises the Mavericks’ ceiling this season. He could also be a more natural fit next to point guard Kyrie Irving, 32, and shooting guard Klay Thompson, who turns 35 on Feb. 8, who are multi-year veterans with championship experience.
After trading Doncic, the Mavericks criticized their former star’s conditioning. ESPN NBA insider Tim McMahon reported it played a role in the franchise’s concern about handing him a supermax extension. Davis (foot) has missed the past two games and has a concerning injury history, so the Mavericks aren’t entirely in the clear. And with Irving and Thompson on short deals, if Dallas doesn’t win immediately, it could be a while before it contends again.
Winner: Anthony Davis
Dallas has a loaded frontcourt with centers Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II and Dwight Powell, allowing Davis to shift to his natural, preferred position at power forward.
According to Basketball Reference, Davis played 60 percent of his regular-season minutes as a power forward during the Lakers’ 2019-20 championship season. He hasn’t played most of his minutes at power forward since 2020-21.
Loser: Mavericks and Lakers fans
Doncic and Davis were fan favorites in their former homes, making the deal challenging for the Mavs and Lakers’ legion of fans. Doncic was beloved in Dallas, where he was acquired in a draft-day trade that sent 2018 No. 5 overall pick Trae Young to the Hawks.
In October 2024, Mavs.com’s Dwain Price wrote about Doncic’s appearance alongside Gafford and Mavericks guard Naji Marshall at a local Dallas elementary school. He noted that students “could barely keep their eyes off the five-time All-Star.”
“It’s a great feeling just how the kids cheer for me, being that young and knowing who I am,” Doncic said. Last April, Doncic received the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award for his work in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
Davis helped lead the Lakers to their most recent NBA championship in his first season with the organization, instantly making him a fan favorite. The stunning trade is a stark reminder for supporters never to get too attached.
Winner: Kyrie Irving
Instead of sharing ball-handling duties with Doncic, Irving will now pilot the Mavericks at point guard. Entering Sunday, the eight-time All-Star had only played 29 percent of his minutes at the position. Irving played 95 percent of his minutes at the point in Brooklyn, his NBA home for four seasons before Dallas. His likely return to point guard should be welcomed for one of the league’s most gifted playmakers.
Loser: Lakers rim protection
Davis led Los Angeles in blocks (2.1 per game). His departure creates a massive void in the Lakers’ interior defense. Entering Sunday, the Lakers are 19th in the league in blocks (4.9 per game), down nearly 12 percent from a season ago. Those block numbers will likely dwindle further without Davis, who was the team’s only legitimate post defender. As much as acquiring Doncic sets up Los Angeles for future success, by losing Davis, the Lakers also lost their defensive identity.
