Two of the NBA’s top players are set to change teams in a shock trade that will to impact the balance of power in the Western Conference for years to come.
Per multiple reports, the Dallas Mavericks have agreed to send MVP candidate Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis, reserve guard Max Christie and a 2029 first-round draft pick.
The three-team deal, in which the Lakers acquire veteran forwards Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris, will also include the Utah Jazz, which will receive Jalen Hood-Schifino, the LA Clippers’ 2025 second-round pick and the Mavs’ 2025 second-round selection.
Doncic, widely regarded as one of the greatest European players of all-time, is now set to join LeBron James in Los Angeles, and Davis is headed to Dallas to partner with Kyrie Irving.
Both Davis and James had been publicly campaigning for the Lakers to acquire a center to pair with the Kentucky product up front, so the news that LA were moving him instead — for a player who had seemed untouchable — sent shock waves throughout the league.
News of the deal was first broken by ESPN’s Shams Charania on Saturday night (February 1), when one game, between the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trailblazers, was still taking place.
The Suns were beaten 127-108 and post-game, Kevin Durant became one of the first NBA players to publicly comment on the blockbuster trade, when he was asked to share his thoughts by reporters.
“Insane. It’s crazy, crazy. I never would of thought Luka Doncic would get traded at this age. Mid-season,” he began.
“NBA is a wild place, man. If he can get traded, then anybody’s up for grabs.”
Durant went on to discuss the ‘transactional’ nature of the NBA, and suggested there is a ‘double-standard’ of loyalty in basketball.
“Players are held to a different standard of loyalty and commitment to a program but the organizations don’t get held to that same standard from the outside,” he continued.
“We should all be held to the same standard. It’s a transactional game, there’s a lot of money involved, a lot of business involved. We shouldn’t be too shocked about trades… it’s just the nature of playing basketball.
“It’s a pretty wild time in the NBA.”
Durant concluded by saying this is the ‘biggest trade’ he’s seen since he’s been in the league, or since he’s been watching the sport.
And he was far from the only person left shocked by the deal.
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson couldn’t believe the news questioning if it was an early April Fools joke.
“WOWWWWW NO F WAY,” Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid wrote on X.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso, who was a teammate of Davis on the Lakers, initially wasn’t buying the news.
“Nah Shams gotta be hacked,” he posted on X.
The shock waves felt around the NBA are far from surprising, as the Doncic-Davis deal is historic.
It’s the first time in league history that two reigning All-NBA players have been traded for each other midseason, and it’s sure to be a deal that shifts the landscape of the Western Conference for years to come.