NBA Rewind: Luka Dončić trade is just the latest superstar coup by the Lakers

The Athletic has live coverage of the 2025 NBA trade deadline. 

The most stunning and unexpected trade in NBA history happened late Saturday night, and I still have people in group chats trying to figure out why. We still have Dallas Mavericks fans wondering what is happening. We have Los Angeles Lakers fans in amazement that they somehow pulled off yet another, historic superstar migration to their uniforms. And it’s just the start of this wild week that leads us up to the trade deadline on Thursday.

Here’s your latest NBA Rewind!

Big Story: Luka Dončić got traded to the Lakers

It still doesn’t feel totally real that this happened Saturday night after the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New York Knicks behind an amazing effort from LeBron James in Madison Square Garden. LeBron has owned MSG most of his career, so that part wasn’t surprising, even with Anthony Davis out due to an abdominal injury. What was shocking was the news that broke a little after the game. Luka Dončić was headed to the Lakers with Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris, while Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick were going to the Dallas Mavericks, and Jalen Hood-Schifino was being dumped to the Utah Jazz with a couple of second-round picks to whet Danny Ainge’s appetite.

Nobody knew this was happening except maybe a handful of people. It’s the most shocking trade in NBA history, and it might be the biggest trade the league has ever seen. LeBron James didn’t know. Rich Paul, Davis’ agent, didn’t know until shortly before the trade. Dončić and Davis weren’t aware either. This wasn’t a Jimmy Butler situation, where a star was disgruntled and asking out. This wasn’t some massive industry power play by a great agent. This was Mavericks executive Nico Harrison and Lakers executive Rob Pelinka trusting their long-term business relationship to keep this between them until it didn’t have to be anymore.

In a world full of media leaks, this not getting out until the 11th hour is truly remarkable. It’s not like we’d heard rumblings of trade rumors surrounding Davis or Dončić. Anything those teams might do before the deadline would involve putting help around the stars, not moving them. This trade seems so preposterous that both sides are still trying to wrap their heads around it. The Mavs’ fans are furious, even to the point of holding a mock funeral for the Dončić era near American Airlines Center.

Three dudes brought a coffin to American Airlines Center. They’re playing “See You Again.”

“Rest in peace to the Mavs.” pic.twitter.com/0Ndv26vGyb

— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) February 2, 2025

Dončić was supposed to get a statue out there near Dirk Nowitzki’s. How’s this for perspective on where this trade leaves him on the Mavs’ all-time leaderboards?

• Games played: 161 from passing Shawn Bradley for 10th place
• Minutes: 929 behind Sam Perkins, who is ninth in team history
• Points: 300 from tying Michael Finley for fifth
• Assists: 1,035 behind second-place Brad Davis

Instead, Dončić will go try to carve his name into the hallowed record books shaped by the Lakers’ legends responsible for the retired jerseys that populate the team’s rafters and Hall of Fame enshrinements in Springfield, Mass.

I try to remind people that when a new executive or owner takes over a team, they often end up inexplicably getting rid of a star player or firing a successful coach. They didn’t put those people in their positions, and they often want to put their own fingerprints all over the future success of a franchise. Granted, I had no clue this would ever apply to Dončić in Dallas. Nobody could have predicted that. But Harrison has prior relationships with Kyrie Irving (whom he traded for) and now Davis (whom he just acquired for Dončić) through his time at Nike. And the trust in the negotiation was made easy because Harrison was Kobe Bryant’s guy at Nike, and Pelinka was Kobe’s agent for a very long time.

Relationships run this stuff far more than logic will. Back before the season started, I spoke to Harrison on SiriusXM NBA Radio for our Mavericks preview show. I asked him about acquiring Klay Thompson this summer, which was viewed as such a windfall for all parties involved. He kept repeating a phrase that he said he was telling people throughout the summer. Harrison would often say, “We’re just a Klay away,” when talking about winning the championship the Boston Celtics denied Dallas in June. I think everybody believed him, because why wouldn’t you? Apparently that meant being a Klay away, as long as they could flip Dončić for Davis.

I truly believe the Mavericks lowered their ceiling. Harrison is clearly taking a big gamble here. People thought he did the same thing when he brought Irving into the mix to pair with Dončić. And that proved to work out a little over a year later when the Mavericks made the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011. This is a much more extreme version of trusting your gut, though. Maybe the most telling acknowledgment of the risk Harrison took was when he said this to the media:

“If you pair him with Kyrie and the rest of the guys, he fits with our timeframe to win now and in the future. The future, to me, is three, four years from now. Ten years from now, I don’t know. They’ll probably bury me and J(ason Kidd) by then. Or we bury ourselves.”

At least he’s aware of how bad this could turn for him and the Mavs. As for the Lakers, so many people on the internet could not believe this franchise got another supreme star to put in their uniform. And to get Dončić at 25 years old? That’s the type of image you expect Lakers fans to unrealistically photoshop on social media to stoke the fires and grow the ire of every other fan base that hates them. Let’s think about this timeline of superstars to grace the Lakers uniforms, just in the Los Angeles era:

• 1960: The Lakers moved to Los Angeles with established star Elgin Baylor and new rookie Jerry West.

•1968: Traded for Wilt Chamberlain.

• 1975: Dealt for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

• 1979: Added Magic Johnson with the first pick in the draft.

• 1982: Selected James Worthy with the first overall selection.

• 1996: Signed Shaquille O’Neal and traded for Kobe Bryant.

• 2008: Acquired Pau Gasol.

• 2012: Added Steve Nash and Dwight Howard.

• 2018: LeBron James signs with the Lakers.

• 2019: The Lakers traded for Anthony Davis.

• 2025: Swapped Davis for Luka Dončić.

I, personally, don’t hate the Lakers, but if you do, that lack of downtime between superstars on the roster must be infuriating. In the past 65 years, they really haven’t gone that long without a superstar in the mix. Dončić will be the next one, as they figure out how to build the team around him. LeBron will eventually retire. At that point, it will all be on Dončić’s shoulders, and we’ll see him try to make the Mavericks rue the day they moved him when he apparently didn’t want to leave. And this is just the beginning of how unbelievable this whole trade story might get. There’s a lot more to uncover here.

We didn’t even mention that De’Aaron Fox was traded to San Antonio and Zach LaVine went to Sacramento in the same deal!

Stock Report extended

I don’t even know what to make of the madness the NBA has given us over the last 48 hours. But I do know the NBA Stock Market has been providing risers and fallers. We’ve got three teams heading in the right direction and three teams struggling to find their footing right now. Let’s jump into the NBA Stock Market and tell you where these teams are headed.

📈 Los Angeles Lakers (28-19): Going into the trade Saturday night, the Lakers had won eight of their last 10 games. Their offense had been one of the best in the NBA during this stretch, and their defense was near the top of the league. Everything seemed to be clicking, and we even got Bronny James scoring at Madison Square Garden. Now, we’ll see when Dončić actually plays for them and how it works with LeBron. We’ll see how they survive Jaxson Hayes as a starting big man. The Lakers are trending up, but they just had a massive overhaul in their roster construction. They need to get a big man now. 

📉 Atlanta Hawks (22-27): Remember when we finally gave in and decided to buy into the Hawks? There’s a reason you never trust the Hawks. They’ve now lost eight straight games, with two of them coming against Toronto. All of a sudden, the Hawks are one of the worst offensive teams in the NBA. Yes, Jalen Johnson is hurt, but he can’t be the difference between being a good offensive team and completely incompetent. I should’ve known better. 

📈 New York Knicks (32-17): OG Anunoby injured his foot, and we’re still waiting to find out how serious it is. But outside of that, the Knicks have been trending up big time. They had won five straight games before losing to the Lakers, with big wins over Memphis, Sacramento and Denver. New York’s offense continues to just rip opposing defenses apart. Its defense has been pretty good, but that will take a hit if Anunoby is out for an extended time. Maybe the Knicks can just outgun every opponent. 

📉 Sacramento Kings (24-24): After the initial high of winning 10 of their first 12 under interim coach Doug Christie, the Kings have now lost four of their last five. They have been the worst defensive team in the land over the last two weeks. And their offense hasn’t been that good either. Maybe it was all due to the distraction of Fox possibly being on the move. The good news is the Fox trade drama is over. The bad news is he’s not on the team anymore, which leaves them without a point guard. 

📈 Portland Trail Blazers (20-29): Break up the Blazers! They’re on fire! They’ve won seven of their last eight games, including five by double digits. They are playing their best defense of the season and continue to dominate everybody in front of them. Scoot Henderson has been incredible. Deni Avdija has been on fire. Even Deandre Ayton is playing some inspired basketball. Also, Toumani Camara is an awesome role player. Chauncey Billups may have saved his job. 

📉 Orlando Magic (24-26): Eight of the Magic’s last nine games have been losses, and they have opened this six-game road trip with three straight defeats to Miami, Portland and Utah. They have their two stars back, but it’s not turning into winning as expected. Moe Wagner and Jalen Suggs being out hasn’t helped, but the Magic were doing a great job surviving without their stars. Now, all of a sudden, that mojo is gone. 

The Week Ahead: The trade deadline is here 

On Thursday at 3 p.m. ET/Noon PT, the final buzzer will ring out for the 2024-25 trade season. That’s when the deadline hits the NBA, and everybody starts wondering if you can grab a playoff contributor in the buyout market shortly after. Let’s keep this section simple as we go through some possible big dominoes to fall with players, and which teams should be buying and selling in the trade market. Why keep it short and simple? Because this could all change by the time I’m done typing out this sentence. 

GO DEEPER

NBA Trade Board 2.0: De’Aaron Fox, Jimmy Butler and more big names on market

The main dominoes 

Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat: He seems to only want to go to the Phoenix Suns, and we’re going to see if he and his agent can finagle that. But … it doesn’t happen without Phoenix getting Bradley Beal to accept playing elsewhere. Butler made this really uncomfortable and chaotic, but it hasn’t gotten him where he wants to be … yet.

GO DEEPER

The Jimmy Butler breakdown: Analyzing how the next major NBA trade domino could fall

Brandon Ingram, New Orleans Pelicans: There really hasn’t been a market for Ingram for over a year. And people are now wondering if the Pelicans will end up re-signing him for a decent contract. If Ingram was consistently healthy, this would go a lot differently. But he’s not.

Cameron Johnson, Brooklyn Nets: He might be the biggest name left that actually moves. A lot of teams have been interested in Johnson, including established contenders and hopeful contenders. The Nets might be able to get a decent bidding war happening.

Austin Reaves, Los Angeles Lakers: This might not be a pre-deadline situation for moving Reaves. But if the Lakers were going to swing for a significant big-man acquisition, offering Reaves and their 2031 first-round pick would be a great starting point.

Bradley Beal, Phoenix Suns: Again, he holds all of the cards for another big deal. His no-trade clause is currently ruining Butler’s employment situation … aside from all that money he’s still capable of making.

The teams that should be selling

Brooklyn Nets: Cameron Johnson | Nicolas Claxton

New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram | CJ McCollum | Zion Williamson (??)

Utah Jazz: John Collins. | Collin Sexton | Jordan Clarkson

Atlanta Hawks: Bogdan Bogdanović | Clint Capela | Larry Nance Jr.

Washington Wizards: Kyle Kuzma | Jonas Valančiūnas | Malcolm Brogdon

The teams that should be buying

Golden State Warriors: Looking for star help. I doubt they’d roll the dice with Butler, and he seems to be the only star left. The Warriors do need to throw as many resources at giving Steph Curry one more shot as they can.

Orlando Magic: A lead guard. This is probably a summer project, and their recent swoon probably removes any feelings of them being so close to competing in the East. They need someone to help them generate easy offense for everybody else.

Los Angeles Lakers: A big man. It simply can’t be Hayes or Christian Wood (if he gets healthy) or signing Mo Bamba or seeing if Travis Knight has plans next month.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Even more wing depth. I don’t think they need to make a deal, but I do like the idea of them trying to get Johnson from Brooklyn. They need as many weapons to outshoot Boston as they can possibly grab.

Memphis Grizzlies: Another creator. I wanted them to gamble with a Butler acquisition, but they care too much about that locker room. As good as they’ve been, I have concerns about consistent playoff offense.

(Top photo of Luka Dončić and the Lakers’ Dorian Finney-Smith: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)