The Unfathomable Trade

By Dan Golden, Staff Writer

On Saturday, Feb. 1st, the marquee matchup for the NBA was the Los Angeles Lakers embarrassing the New York Knicks without one of their stars, Anthony Davis. LeBron James dropped a triple-double at Madison Square Garden after beating the Knicks in their building. 

At 12:12 a.m. Sunday morning, Shams Charania, ESPN senior NBA insider dropped unprecedented news on X (formally Twitter). 

“The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN.” 

Earth stops rotating, waves stop crashing, and Guy Fieri’s frosted tips go grey; fans and players alike around the NBA are in disbelief. 

Multiple players including the Knicks Jalen Brunson tweeted “April fools am I right?” Tyreese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers one minute after the announcement tweeted “Shams got hacked?” Players on other teams’ MID-GAME were reacting to the news. Videos have surfaced with Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns stunned after hearing the news while taking a rest during his game against the Portland Trail Blazers. In fact, there is a video of their bench reacting as well. Four minutes after his initial tweet, however, Shams confirmed the trade with this tweet: 

“Yes, this is real. Sources tell ESPN: Full trade:

– Lakers: Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris

– Mavericks: Anthony Davis, Max Christie, 2029 LAL 1st

– Jazz: Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2025 Clippers 2nd, 2025 Mavericks 2nd,” Charania tweeted.

Shams Charania is the trusted source of NBA news. If he shares a story or trade information, it’s real. At a press conference on February 2nd, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd was also blindsided by the trade. Mavericks general manager (GM) Nico Harrison claimed he had to keep the trade talks a secret allegedly for over a month! Harrison claims to have only communicated with Rob Pelinka, the Lakers GM.

So why did this trade rock the NBA? Who are the players involved with the trade and what happens now?

Luka Doncic, the centerpiece of this trade, is a 25-year-old point guard and has played with the Mavericks his entire career. He averaged 47% shooting from the field, 35% from three-point range, and 28 points per game in his career. Luka was the definition of a franchise player, a phenom. Rookie of the Year in 2019, a five-time All-NBA 1st team player, a generational type of player. 

The other centerpiece of this trade is Anthony Davis from the Lakers. He’s a 31-year-old power forward who played half of his career with the New Orleans Pelicans and half with the Lakers. Over his career, he averaged 52% from the field, 30% from three-point range and averaged 24 points per game. Four-time All NBA 1st team, 2017 MVP. Excellent player, but a little older. 

Senior film major Nate Chen believes the Lakers won the trade. 

“(Luka) is an MVP favorite, took the Mavericks to the finals last year, and had a 73-point game, that player comes around once in a lifetime. For the Mavs to pass on him, there has to be something going on behind the scenes.” 

Multiple reports from around the league seemed to suggest that Doncic’s off-court habits and conditioning were a “concern” for the team. The organization even went so far as to fire some of Doncic’s “favorite people” in his strength and conditioning staff. Doncic also was eligible for a “supermax” contract next season valued at almost $350 million. Perhaps this also gave Dallas room for pause. 

Regardless of the reasons for the trade, Dallas fans were furious. Multiple videos have surfaced online over the past few days with fans demanding Nico Harrison to be fired, burning jerseys, and even a “funeral” complete with a casket. Attendance has declined at Dallas home games since the trade has taken place and there was even a reported instance of a fan being removed from a home game on Monday, Feb. 10. The fan was ejected for mouthing the words “Fire Nico” on a fan cam during a timeout and later holding a sign displaying the same message. Dallas went on to lose the game to the Sacramento Kings 129-128. 

Meanwhile that same night, Doncic was welcomed with open arms by LA fans in a massive win over the Utah Jazz 132-113. Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki even traveled to Los Angeles to support Doncic in his debut. 

To make matters worse for Dallas fans, Davis was injured during his debut a game earlier with an abductor strain and is expected to miss significant time. A trainwreck of a trade for Dallas’ leadership and only the beginning of a painful and uncertain future for their fanbase.