Lakers acquire Luka Doncic from Mavericks for Anthony Davis in Three-Team Deal

Keith Smith
Keith Smith, Resident NBA ExpertFebruary 02, 2025
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#nba #nba trade deadline #los angeles lakers #dallas mavericks #utah jazz #luka doncic #anthony davis #maxi kleber #markieff morris #max christie #jalen hood-schifino
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Wow…

Just wow.

In a stunning blockbuster, the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks swapped superstars, while the Utah Jazz stepped in as a facilitator.

Here are the particulars:

Los Angeles Lakers acquire: Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris

Dallas Mavericks acquire: Anthony Davis, Max Christie, 2029 Lakers first-round pick

Utah Jazz acquire: Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2025 TBD second-round pick (via Mavericks), 2025 Clippers second-round pick (via Lakers)

Let’s dive in!

Los Angeles Lakers

Incoming salary: $56.1 million in 2024-25

  • Luka Doncic (PG, three years, $137.9 million (player option for final season)),
  • Maxi Kleber (PF/C, two years, $22 million),
  • Markieff Morris (PF/C, one year, $2.1 million)

Outgoing salary: $54.2 million in 2024-25

  • Anthony Davis (PF/C, four years, $218.6 million (player option for final season),
  • Max Christie (SG/SF, four years, $32 million (player option for final season),
  • Jalen Hood-Schifino (PG, one year, $3.9 million)

The Los Angeles Lakers have their post-LeBron James superstar in place. That’s what this trade was about.

James and Doncic are a bit of an odd pairing on the floor. Both are high-usage big ballhandlers. Neither is an elite off-ball player. But that’s something for JJ Redick to sort out over the coming weeks and months.

The defense will take a major hit for Los Angeles. Anthony Davis is still a one-man wrecking crew around the rim. Max Christie was the team’s best perimeter defender.

None of that really matters.

The Lakers got Luka Doncic.

Has Doncic been somewhat injury-prone recently? Are there conditioning issues with Doncic? Is he still immature in his relationships with officials?

Yes. Yes. And, yes.

Doncic is also a perennial MVP candidate. He also only turns 26 years old at the end of February. He’s an established global superstar.

You put up with all the questionable stuff because Doncic is that good. And he has been since he got to the NBA. Don’t overthink this. It’s Luka Doncic.

Moving forward, the Lakers now have the certainty of having a star in place when James eventually moves on. That’s true if James retires or decides he’d like to play elsewhere. (More on that last part in a bit.)

The other sneaky, but enormously important thing to note here: Los Angeles will get Doncic on a relative discount long-term too.

Doncic is no longer eligible to sign a Designated Veteran extension (the so-called supermax) for 35% of the cap. Players can only sign that kind of deal with the team that drafted them, or if they were acquired while still on their rookie scale deal.

That means when it’s time for the Lakers to extend or re-sign Doncic, they’ll get him for 30% of the cap. That’s a projected difference of roughly $8.5 million in first-year salary in 2026-27. That’s huge for Los Angeles, as they’ll be retooling the roster around Doncic at that time.

Speaking of retooling…Rob Pelinka still has work to do this season for the Lakers.

By trading Davis and Christie, the Lakers are severely lacking in defense now. Davis leaves a major hole at center. The only healthy non-two-way center on the roster now is Jaxson Hayes. He’s been fine as a backup, but he’s underwhelming as a starter.

Could Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris help there? Eh, probably not. Kleber is out with a broken foot and will be down for several more weeks. He’s also not really a center, as much as he is a pure four. At this point, Morris’ biggest contributions come in the locker room and in practice.

That means the Lakers need to get a center. The good news? They have the ammo to make that happen, and they can be flexible in the type of five they chase now.

Interior defense and rebounding are definitely concerns. Someone like Clint Capela, Nic Claxton, Robert Williams III, Jakob Poeltl or, yes, Walker Kessler can fill those needs. All are on acquirable contracts, which is key because the Lakers are still working around some tight margins with the aprons.

If the team’s read is that no center that they can acquire is fixing what looks like a leaky perimeter defense, they could go all-in on offense. That would open up the market for guys like Nikola Vucevic, Jonas Valanciunas or Deandre Ayton.

The player who can fill both the offensive and defensive needs best is Myles Turner, but there’s no sense the Pacers would move him for anything but a real haul.

Which brings us to the next question: What do the Lakers still have that they can offer? Picks-wise, Pelinka still has his 2031 first-round pick to offer up in deal. For players, the Lakers can send out Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent, who are a combined $28 million in potential salary-matching, even with each carrying one extra season beyond this one.

The Lakers should also be more open to moving Austin Reaves too. Doncic and Reaves are a terrific offensive combination, but that’s pretty rough duo defensively. It’s asking a lot of everyone else to cover for those two’s flaws on defense.

If Los Angeles is open to moving Reaves, that could up their return considerably. He’s a good player, despite the defensive issues, and Reaves would be another $12.9 million in outgoing salary.

To keep it simple: The Lakers don’t seem done rebuilding this roster. There is work to be done, both for the short- and long-term. It might be bumpy for a bit, because the Doncic-James fit isn’t exactly seamless, plus Los Angeles will likely be incorporating other new players too. But once they find their footing, the Lakers should be fine.

Now, let’s get to the elephant in the room: How does LeBron James feel about all of this?

James only public comments so far, in the immediate hours following the trade, were to dispute a report that he had grown weary of playing with Davis. James shot that down emphatically on social media.

But that shouldn’t be taken as more than anything but James not wanting others to put words in his mouth. There’s been nothing reported yet that he’s happy or upset about this deal. In the past, the Lakers superstar has spoken glowingly of Doncic. James also recruited Davis and won a title with him.

The reality is that the Lakers made this deal to prepare themselves for a post-LeBron James future. Could that come as soon as this week, before the trade deadline? That seems crazy, but this whole thing is crazy already. The Lakers and Golden State Warriors had at least some level of discussion on a trade that would have sent James to northern California a year ago. Could those be rekindled?

It’s important to note here that James has a full no-trade clause. If he’s dealt this week, or at any point, it’ll happen with his approval.

It’s also worth asking what James is going to do after this season. He’s in Year 22. James has talked openly about how the end is near. But only he knows how near it is. James has a player option for 2025-26. Could he opt out and go elsewhere? Could he simply retire and walk away?

The Los Angeles Lakers know their time with LeBron James is short, no matter if they don’t know just how short it is. They weren’t going to go without a superstar after James moves on. Now, with Luka Doncic in the fold, the Lakers have their next star already in the fold.

Dallas Mavericks

Incoming salary: $50.4 million in 2024-25

  • Anthony Davis (PF/C, four years, $218.6 million (player option for final season)
  • Max Christie (SG/SF, four years, $32 million (player option for final season)

Outgoing salary: $54.2 million in 2024-25

  • Luka Doncic (PG, three years, $137.9 million (player option for final season))
  • Maxi Kleber (PF/C, two years, $22 million)
  • Markieff Morris (PF/C, one year, $2.1 million)

The Mavericks are resetting on the fly. This isn’t a rebuilding trade, nor is it a panic trade. It’s a major gamble, but one that seems to align with their organizational belief on how you build a winner.

Dallas GM Nico Harrison said post-trade reports that he believes you win championships with defense.

Enter Anthony Davis.

Yes, Davis is roughly six years older than Luka Doncic. Yes, Davis is injury prone.

But he’s still an All-NBA level of talent and a one-man defensive system. Davis still has plenty left in tank, and he’s signed long-term.

In the immediate, Davis is a major upgrade for the Mavericks. Doncic hasn’t played for most of the season and Dallas is thin up front at the moment due to injuries. Davis will help them tremendously right away.

Expect the Mavs to fulfill Davis’ long-held desire to play power forward. In the short-term, Davis will likely start next to Daniel Gafford, with P.J. Washington becoming a high-minutes super sub behind them in the frontcourt rotation. When Dereck Lively II is healthy again, he and Davis will team up as the long-term frontcourt pairing in Dallas.

Davis is a fairly plug-and-play guy. He’s awesome defensively and he’s an offensive weapon, without being someone you need to tailor your entire system around. Davis and holdover Mavericks star Kyrie Irving have long talked about playing together. Now, they’ll get to do so in Dallas, of all places.

Cap-wise, acquiring Davis beings some surety to things for the Mavericks. Instead of paying Doncic a supermax (and Doncic would have gotten the supermax or things would have gotten very ugly in Dallas), now the team has Davis locked in for what is less than they were planning for in extending Doncic. It’s not a massive amount, but it’s locked in long-term security with some additional flexibility.

That’s important because Irving can be a free agent this summer. Assuming Irving is happy about the deal (as of this writing, nothing has been reported about how Irving feels), the Mavs can move forward with locking up Irving and Davis as their star duo. There’s a chance that pairing fits just as well as the Irving-Doncic duo did.

It’s worth noting that Davis is waiving his trade bonus to be a part of this deal. That’s important for two reasons: First, it gives the Mavs some much-needed flexibility, both now and moving forward. Second, it’s an indication that Davis is ok with the deal. If he wasn’t, he could have caused issues by insisting upon getting his bonus in full.

Dallas also acquired a 2029 first-round pick in this deal. It’s impossible to know what the Lakers will be four years from now. Even with Doncic in the fold, Los Angeles will be navigating a post-LeBron James world at that point. That range of outcomes for that pick is anywhere in the first round.

Stepping back into the present, the Mavericks had made it known they wanted to upgrade their perimeter defense ahead of the deadline. Max Christie is a major get in that respect. Christie is a solid defender on the wing. He’s also become a fairly consistent shooter too. No one is going to celebrate wildly about Christie being in this deal, but he’s on a terrific value contract and shouldn’t be overlooked. Dallas did well to add him.

All that being said…the Mavericks traded Luka Doncic.

Ouch.

Doncic is a full-blown superstar. Super-duper-star, even. With Doncic, you write him into your roster and game plans in pen, then you figure out the rest. Doncic is a yearly MVP candidate and he’s only turning 26 later this month.

Doncic was also the post-Dirk Nowtizki star in Dallas. He’s a global superstar who made the Mavericks relevant around the world. All of that is hard to move on from.

There’s a lot of spin coming out Dallas right now about Doncic. Concerns over his conditioning, commitment and a tendency to pick up injuries. Those reports also say Dallas was hesitant to give Doncic a supermax deal.

If true, then the Mavericks were right to move on. If you can’t commit to your superstar, you owe it to him and yourselves to make a trade.

But the question then becomes: Why not stage a bidding war?

Let’s start out by saying, this trade isn’t bad for Dallas. In a rush to declare winners and losers, we often turn it into good and bad. The Mavericks did fine here. Davis is a star in his own right. Christie is a nice role player on a great contract. And Dallas picked up a potentially valuable first-round pick.

But could they have gotten more?

How many picks would the Spurs have given up to pair Doncic with Victor Wembanyama? Could the Nets have given their entire haul to bring Doncic to Brooklyn? Would the Rockets have given up picks and young talent? What about the Jazz? Could the Thunder have shocked the world by emptying their draft pick treasure chest, while also adding in some young talent too?

We’ll never know. And that’s unfortunate, because players of Luka Doncic’s caliber, at his age, are rarely ever actually available.

Instead, the Mavericks worked in silence and to make a win-now play. Again, it’s not bad, per se. It’s just not the kind of overwhelming return we expect in a move like this.

But that’s kind of the thing. There’s no real playbook to work off of here. A super-duper-star getting moved when he’s still in his pre-prime (at worst early-prime) years is unheard of. It’s truly incredible.

Utah Jazz

Incoming salary: $3.9 million in 2024-25

  • Jalen Hood-Schifino (PG, one year, $3.9 million)

Outgoing salary: None

  • Note: The Jazz will have to waive a player to complete this trade. That player is TBD.

The Jazz have jumped in yet another trade to siphon off some value by acting as a facilitator. This trade doesn’t work without Hood-Schifino going somewhere, so Utah is lending a helping hand, while getting paid two second-round picks to do so.

Hood-Schifino is a decent flyer for Utah to take. He was a former mid-first-round pick. His impact in the NBA has been almost non-existent. Last season, Hood-Schifino played well in the G League in a limited number of games. There’s talent there, even if Hood-Schifino hasn’t figured it out yet.

Basically, Utah will get a look at the young guard when he’s healthy enough to play. The Jazz already have several other young ballhandlers, so Hood-Schifino is really just a flyer. But why not? Might as well take a look, considering that’s where the Jazz are at in the rebuilding process.

Utah will acquire Hood-Schifino using a part of their Room Exception. That’s fine, as the Jazz were never going to sign anyone of note using that exception anyway.

One last note on Hood-Schifino: Let’s say he pops and really plays well for Utah. The Jazz will be limited in what they can re-sign him for. Because the Lakers declined their 2025-26 team option for Hood-Schifino, the Jazz are limited to offering him the amount of that declined option in first-year salary. That’s just over $4 million, so that shouldn’t be any kind of major impediment, should Utah want to re-sign Hood-Schifino as a free agent this summer.

 


#nba #nba trade deadline #los angeles lakers #dallas mavericks #utah jazz #luka doncic #anthony davis #maxi kleber #markieff morris #max christie #jalen hood-schifino
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