February 1st, 2025. The night the NBA world completely stopped. Perhaps the biggest trade in NBA history went down, which doesn’t make sense. Shams Charania, lead NBA sports reporter, broke that the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic. Maxi Kleber and Markeiff Morris were shipped off to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 1st round pick.

Last year, the Dallas Mavericks made the playoffs as the 5th best team in the Western Conference. Expectations weren’t high for the Mavs, but everybody knew they had a chance when Luka Doncic put on the blue and white jersey. In the past, Doncic had been a great playoff performer and proved that again in 2024. He carried Dallas on his back throughout the entire playoff run and even made it to the NBA Finals. Although they lost to the Boston Celtics in the finals, the bar was set high for the Mavs in 2025.

Fast forward 8 months, and the Mavericks traded away their superstar, franchise point guard. Luka Doncic was the face of the team at only 26 years old and has been in MVP talks since he entered the league in 2019. He dragged them through the playoffs but got traded away before he reached his prime. The only question fans are asking is: why? Mavericks General Manager, Nico Harrison was unhappy with Doncic’s diet and conditioning regime. He claimed the 6’6 guard weighed 270 pounds when he got back from the off-season, and was worried about his future. Harrison also argued that “defense wins championships” and the one liability to Doncic’s game is his defense. 

Even with these concerns, it shouldn’t be a reason to trade your superstar. Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic are two prime examples of players who don’t play with athleticism, but are still in the top five best basketball players in the world. They play with patience and are shot creators for themselves and their teammates. Unless his weight becomes unhealthy and affects his quality of play, they shouldn’t be worried about his conditioning. Luka Doncic is not good at defense, but he completely makes up for it with his offensive game, making the other players around him better as well as himself. They just made the finals, and the same team is returning to run it back again, so what did they do to get better?

In return, the Mavericks got Anthony Davis, a borderline top-10 player and one of the best two-way players in the league. He formed a duo with LeBron James on the Lakers in a competitive Western Conference. The only knock on Davis is him constantly showing up on the injury report. Also, he’s 33 so the injury concerns will not get any better, and he shouldn’t be on the team or playing at his current level for much longer as he ages. They also got guard Max Christie. At only 22 years old, Christie could develop into a great role player and a starter on a playoff team. The 1st round pick they got won’t be much because assuming the Lakers are good with Doncic, it will be a later pick. 

While the long-term future for the Mavericks is more unclear, the trade made them a more win-now-oriented team. Kyrie Irving is now the number one option and can flourish in the pick-and-roll with Anthony Davis. Christie also starts as a good two-guard, with Klay Thompson at Small Forward, who is older but can still shoot. At center, they have flexibility between Daniel Gafford, a reliable big man and Derrick Lively, a second-year player. Both do the same roll, which is to get rebounds and stay near the rim. They also have great depth with P.J. Washington, Naji Marshall, and Jaden Hardy just to name a few. Although the trade may seem bad at the moment, maybe it ends up working out. 

Problems arose in the first game with Anthony Davis as a Laker. He put up 26 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 blocks. That was until he got hurt in the 3rd quarter. It was reported it was nothing serious but it would later be announced he would miss weeks with an adductor strain. A couple of days later, Daniel Gafford went down, and with Derrick Lively and P.J. Washington already having nagging injuries, they were severely lacking players in the frontcourt. When people thought it couldn’t get any worse, on March 3rd, Kyrie Irving was diagnosed with a torn ACL and is out for the season, and may miss a chunk of next season. In March, Jaden Hardy, Dante Exum, Brandon Williams, and Olivier Maxence-Prosper dealt with injuries, losing some for the season. All of them were rotational pieces for the Mavs, and losing them meant a lot to the team. 

Dallas has been tumbling ever since the trade with a 10-15 record since the trade. They were eighth in the standings before the low trade because Doncic was out half the season already but fell to tenth after the trade. They are 23-29 without Luka Doncic on the season and are 13-9 with him. In his career with the Mavericks, Luka Doncic contributed to a winning percentage of 56.9% when he was on the court since he was drafted compared to a measly 42.5% without him in the same span. 

The Lakers headed in the opposite direction following the deal. The Lakers were the fifth seed in the West and have looked like a better team, peaking as the second-best team in the conference. They have hovered around the fourth-best team, but looks like they can make a serious push in the playoffs. They also set up their future perfectly with LeBron James passing the torch in LA to Luka Doncic when he retires.

It’s a shock that Mavericks GM Nico Harrison still has his job. But this will be the biggest mistake in his career with the team and is left to pick up the scraps following the trade. Hopefully, for the sake of Mavs fans, they will be better next season, but because of their aging core, they are due for another rebuild when Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving either retire or leave in free agency. With the success of the Lakers and the downfall of the Mavericks, this is one of the worst trades in NBA history. And for the Mavericks, the nightmare has just begun.