Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Lakers To Acquire Luka Doncic, Trading Anthony Davis In Three-Team Deal

February 1st 2025 at 11:28pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Lakers are acquiring superstar Luka Doncic in a blockbuster trade that brings Anthony Davis to the Mavericks as part of a three-team deal involving Utah, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

L.A. will also receive Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris, while Max Christie and the Lakers’ first-round pick in 2029 are headed to Dallas. The Jazz will take on the salary of second-year guard Jalen Hood-Schifino while receiving two 2025 second-round picks, one from the Mavericks and one that originally belonged to the Clippers.

Utah will also send $55K in cash to both the Lakers and Mavericks, a source tells Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).

It’s one of the most shocking trades in recent NBA history, to the extent that Charania published a second tweet stating, “Yes, this is real” after breaking the news. There had been no indication that the Mavs were looking to part with Doncic or that the Lakers’ front office was considering breaking up Davis’ long-time partnership with LeBron James.

“I believe that defense wins championships,” Dallas GM Nico Harrison said in explaining his motivation (Twitter link from Tim MacMahon of ESPN). “I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We’re built to win now and in the future.”

Doncic did not request a trade, sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link) as the Mavericks liked the return from L.A. enough to part with their franchise player. Doncic would have become eligible for a record-setting supermax contract this summer potentially worth $345MM over five years, and Dallas had concerns about making that commitment due to his frequent conditioning issues, MacMahon adds (Twitter link).

Sources tell Charania that the Mavericks initiated the deal, and the Lakers believed it was in their best long-term interest to give up Davis, who will turn 32 next month, to acquire the 25-year-old Doncic, who could be the face of the franchise for the next decade (Twitter link).

Dallas contacted several teams this week to see if they were willing to reroute salary in a potential three-team deal, sources tell Jake Fischer (Twitter link). While several teams had an indication that the Mavericks were working on something, no one else had any idea that it involved Doncic, Fischer adds.

Doncic has been sidelined since Christmas Day when he suffered a left calf strain in a game against Minnesota. He had been expected to return soon, and John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 tweets that Dallas was preparing for him to play next Saturday.

Doncic has a been a franchise-changing talent since the Mavericks traded up for the opportunity to select him in the 2018 draft. After winning Rookie of the Year honors, he was a first-team All-NBA selection and finished in the top eight of MVP balloting in each of the next five seasons. He’s not eligible for individual awards this year because of the strained calf and other ailments that have limited him to 22 games.

Davis is one of the top big men in the league and helped the Lakers capture the 2020 title in his first season with the team. The eight-time All-Star is currently sidelined with an abdominal strain, but he has been remarkably durable over the last two years despite a history of injuries. He has appeared in 42 of L.A.’s 47 games after playing 76 last season.

Davis is looking forward to joining the Mavericks, according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link). He has a history with Harrison from their days together at Nike, and his long-time preference to play power forward rather than center will be less of an issue with Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively on the roster.

Davis has agreed to waive his 15% trade bonus, which would have been worth $8MM, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). That decision leaves the Mavericks $628K below the luxury tax, while they were $5.1MM above before the deal.

Because they’re not sending anyone out in the trade, the Jazz will have to open a roster spot before they can acquire Hood-Schifino, points out salary cap analyst Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). That’s likely to happen by waiving or reaching a buyout with P.J. Tucker or Mohamed Bamba, who were both acquired from the Clippers in a deal earlier on Saturday.

Gozlan states that Hood-Schifino will be absorbed into Utah’s $8MM room exception, leaving the team $16.7MM below the tax line after Saturday’s dealings. The 21-year-old guard may get a greater opportunity to play with the Jazz after appearing in just two games this season and 23 total since being selected with the 17th pick in the 2023 draft.

Christie could be a valuable addition for Dallas, as he has blossomed into a solid rotation player during this third NBA season. He’s in the first season of a four-year, $32MM extension that he signed last summer.

Kleber suffered a broken right foot last weekend, so he won’t provide any immediate help to the Lakers. The 33-year-old big man is under contract for one more year at $11MM. Morris, a 35-year-old power forward, has an expiring veteran’s minimum contract.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0
View Comments (158)