Lakers acquire Luka Doncic from Mavericks for Anthony Davis

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Well. Absolutely no one on the planet saw this one coming. On Saturday night we saw a NBA trade for the ages as the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic, the best Slovenian athlete of all-time, to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis.

Describing this trade as a blockbuster is an understatement. It is quite frankly one of the biggest trades ever in the NBA. In addition to receiving Doncic, the Lakers acquired power forward Maxi Kleber of Wuzburg, Germany and power forward Markieff Morris of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Mavericks also received shooting guard Max Christie of Arlington Heights, Illinois and a first round pick in 2029. Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz were also involved in the deal and received shooting guard Jalen Hood-Schifino from the Lakers and two second round picks in 2025 (one from the Los Angeles Clippers and one from the Mavericks).

The two biggest players in the deal are Doncic and Davis, who are set to be two future Hall of Famers. Doncic is a five-time NBA All-Star, rookie of the year, and the NBA’s leading scorer last season with 33.9 points per game. This season, Doncic is averaging 28.1 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, 7.8 assists per game and two steals per game. He also has a field goal percentage of .464, three-point percentage of .354, and free throw percentage of .767.

Davis is joining his third team after seven seasons in New Orleans and six seasons in Los Angeles. The NBA leader in blocks per game three times while with the Pelicans (2.8 in 2013-14, 2.9 in 2014-15, and 2.6 in 2017-18), Davis is a nine-time All-Star and 2020 NBA Finals champion with the Lakers. In 2024-25, he was averaging 25.7 points per game, 11.9 rebounds per game, 3.4 assists per game, 2.1 blocks per game, 1.3 steals per game, a field goal percentage of .528, three-point percentage of .298, and free throw percentage of .788.