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Shock, Surprise, Betrayal: The Trade of the Century in the NBA

Jeremy Lapidus

The NBA Trade Deadline in 2025 was promising to be one of the quieter ones in recent memory.  The rumor mill had churned up just two names, Jimmy Butler and De’Aaron Fox, neither matched the star power like Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving of years past.  All that changed Saturday night when the biggest trade in the history of the NBA surprised everyone.

 

The Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers agreed to a league altering deal sending Luka Dončić to LA in exchange for Anthony Davis.  The full trade is as follows:

 

Lakers get:
Luka Dončić

Maxi Kleber

Markieff Morris

 

Mavericks get:

Anthony Davis

Max Christie

2029 first-round pick

 

Jazz get:

Jalen Hood-Schifino

Two 2025 second-round picks

 

The Lakers are getting a top five player in the NBA right now, at just 25 years old in Luka Dončić.  Dončić, in just his seventh season in the NBA has accomplished a careers worth of feats.  Selected to the all-NBA first team five times in six years, leading a team to the NBA finals, leading the league in scoring, and more.  Dončić is the most valuable piece ever moved in a mid-season NBA trade.

 

It wasn’t for nothing though, the Mavericks received one of the best two way players in the NBA in Davis.  Davis is having an incredible season in his own right, averaging 25/11/3 along with 3 stocks (steals + blocks) per game. 

 

In the context of just this season, the trade could be considered relatively equal.  The issue is these are permanent moves, not rentals.  Davis, at age 31 is an asset that won’t stand the test of time, while Dončić has 10 -15 more years of dominance at the top of the NBA remaining. 

 

This was a short sided move on the side of Mavericks GM Nico Harrison.  One of the reasons this move has been as shocking as it is was the secrecy Harrison insisted upon having.  This was a trade made in the shadows, surprising the fans, media, players, and even those in the Mavericks organization. 

 

Harrison only contacted Lakers GM Rob Pelinka, refusing to even shop around the Mavericks superstar.  We can only guess the riches a Dončić trade would have garnered in a bidding war. 

 

It is unclear still why the Mavericks decided to pull the pin on Dončić, but reports indicate it was a combination of Mavericks concerns over his conditioning and his fit in the culture.  More reasoning should come out over time, but for now we see if the gamble of the century will pay off.