The Mavericks’ decision to send Luka Doncic to the Lakers has already been stamped as one of the NBA’s most damaging recent trades.
Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes called the Feb. 2, 2025 blockbuster the worst trade of the last five years, and it’s not hard to see why that view has gained traction. Dallas shipped out six-time All-Star Luka Doncic, along with Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris, to Los Angeles in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick.
Hughes laid out the case bluntly.
“The first rule of having Luka Doncic on your team is that you should not trade Luka Doncic unless Luka Doncic specifically asks you to trade him,” Hughes wrote Sunday. “The second rule is that if you have Luka Doncic on your team and Luka Doncic specifically asks you to trade him, you shop around so you get the best possible deal.”
He added, “Whether Dallas tried to frame it as a long- or short-term move, the logic was flawed. Doncic was the better and more durable player at the time, and he was six years younger than AD.”
The trade stunned the NBA because Dallas was supposed to be building around Doncic and Kyrie Irving after an improbable Finals run. The Mavericks, who won the championship in 2011, reached the final round again with that duo leading the charge, only to fall to the Boston Celtics in five games.
Instead of riding that core forward, Dallas pivoted into a new direction in the middle of the 2024-25 season. Former general manager Nico Harrison argued that the move would give the team a stronger defensive identity, but the gamble immediately invited scrutiny because of Davis’ injury history.
Davis, a 10-time All-Star, has continued to deal with significant upper and lower body injuries, and his stint in Dallas lasted less than two seasons before he was moved again. Meanwhile, Doncic has settled in as the Lakers’ No. 1 scoring option and is putting up 33.5 points per game.
There is still work ahead for Doncic in Los Angeles, but the early read on this deal is hard to escape: Dallas may have changed its direction, but it also handed one of the league’s brightest stars to the Lakers.
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