Unpacking the Luka Dončić - Anthony Davis Trade

What the most shocking trade in NBA history means for the future...

In case you’ve been living under a rock, the most shocking trade in NBA history went down last week. Superstars Anthony Davis and Luka Dončić were the centerpieces of the blockbuster trade. Nobody saw this coming since Davis has been putting up MVP numbers and helped the Lakers bring home a NBA championship in 2020, and Luka Dončić is as close to untouchable as you can be; arguably the best player in the league while being only 25 years of age. On top of this, he led the Mavericks to the finals just last season. Furthermore, both superstars are bona fide fan favorites and seemed to have found a home in their respective cities. Below are the details of the trade.

• The Lakers receive: Luka Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris

• The Mavericks receive: Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick

• The Jazz receive: Jalen Hood-Schifino and two 2025 second-round picks

However, for the Lakers, their GM Rob Pelinka believed that Luka would “lead this franchise for years to come” as he was worried about the direction of the Lakers after LeBron retires. Although this reasoning makes sense, Anthony Davis is only 31, and is playing the best basketball of his career this season. Trading away a player of Anthony Davis’s caliber displays the severe trust that the Lakers have in Luka to represent LA for the next decade.

Looking at the trade from a wider perspective, I don’t see where Dallas benefits. Anthony Davis is older, and in my opinion worse than Luka. The experiment of Kyrie and Luka lead Dallas to the finals just last year, so it confuses me why they would break up this duo. Furthermore, the threat of Luka demanded constant attention from defenses, which allowed Kyrie to get 1-on-1 matchups and relieved pressure for him to lead offensive production.

Even though Anthony Davis is a massive threat in his own right, he demands a different type of attention. Davis is not as much of a shot creator and is less of a ball-dominant offensive force. The accurate picture of how the new Dallas offense will operate will only become clear with time. Regardless, though, the truth of the matter is that Kryie will have to step up and lead the offensive in order for Dallas to fill the hole that Luka will leave and continue to be a threat in the West.

You can’t ignore that the future for the Lakers is bright. Luka is only 25 years old, and has already proven himself to be one of the best players in the league. As of the immediate future, though, Luka’s premier scoring will give the Lakers a boost and take pressure off of Lebron to produce every night. After all, Lebron isn’t getting any younger. Furthermore, the Lakers now have two 1-on-1 dominant players to turn to in the clutch. Who wants to have to guard Lebron and Luka?

However, with the pros there are several cons too. First of all, splitting up Lebron and Anthony Davis is bad for the Lakers as their play styles meshed together near perfectly. The problem with Lebron and Luka is that they are both ball-dominant players with similar play styles. Without Anthony Davis the Lakers don’t have a stand-out center. Lastly, the offensive production of Luka may steal the spotlight and offer less opportunities for up-and-coming players like Austin Reeves.

Finally, in the long run, the Lakers completely won the trade. Luka will be a top-tier player in this league for the next decade and will take over the franchise once LeBron retires. However, in my opinion, the Lakers won short-term as well. Anthony Davis is an amazing player but at the end of the day, he is not Luka Dončić. The Mavs giving up on Luka was unheard of at the time and I believe NBA fans in ten years will be looking back on this trade as the biggest mistake of all time. However, we can only speculate now, and only time will tell who won this trade.