What you’re seeing is real, Mavericks fans.
Dallas traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers in one of the most shocking trades in NBA history late Saturday night, landing Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a future first-round pick as part of a three-team deal that shook the league to its core.
The decision to trade a 25-year-old perennial All-NBA talent baffled fans as soon as the news broke, and it could go down as one of the greatest risks an NBA front office has ever taken. Just one year after leading the Mavericks to the NBA Finals, Doncic is headed west while Davis, an All-Star talent himself but considerably older, is heading to Dallas to form an unlikely duo with Kyrie Irving.
Here are the Mavericks’ motivations behind the blockbuster deal.
MORE: Full details of Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis blockbuster
Why did the Mavericks trade Luka Doncic to the Lakers?
Fans will be making sense of the Mavericks’ decision to trade their face of the franchise for weeks, months and likely years ahead. Some early reporting is indicating Dallas’ motivations.
The Mavericks had “major concerns” about Doncic’s future due to “constant conditioning issues” with the 25-year-old, ESPN’s Tim McMahon reports. Doncic was set to be eligible for a second super-max contract extension, and Dallas was reportedly apprehensive about the commitment.
The Mavs had major concerns about moving forward with Luka Doncic due to his constant conditioning issues and the looming commitment of another supermax contract extension this summer, sources told ESPN.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 2, 2025
Notably, Doncic is no longer eligible for a super-max deal following the trade.
“There had been significant frustration within the organization about Doncic’s lack of discipline regarding his diet,” ESPN also reported. Doncic has been limited by injuries to only 22 games this season, but he had never played fewer than 65 games in a full 82-game season before this campaign.
Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison offered a different explanation for the deal, claiming his biggest motivation was the desire for a defensive upgrade.
“I believe that defense wins championships,” Harrison told 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.”
That explanation is unlikely to satisfy most Mavericks fans, considering Davis is six years older than Doncic and comes with an injury history. While Davis is a 10-time All-Star, he hasn’t finished top-five in MVP voting since 2017-18, when he was still with the Pelicans. Doncic has three top-five MVP finishes since entering the league in 2018.
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Doncic did not request a trade, Marc Stein confirmed. Dallas approached the Lakers with a Doncic proposal, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported, and the idea intrigued L.A. for obvious reasons.
The Mavericks approached the Lakers recently and offered Luka Doncic, sources tell ESPN. Lakers brass met and believed the 25-year-old Doncic has the ability to be the face of their franchise for the next decade while giving Anthony Davis a win-now move in Dallas.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025
More information will undoubtedly surface as the fallout from the trade begins, but the early reports paint the picture of a Mavericks front office that simply decided it was done with the player many expected to be the face of the franchise for years to come.
