Anthony Davis is a four-time first-team All-NBA player, a three-time All-Defensive team selection, and an NBA champion. This season, he’s averaging 25.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, just a month before turning 32.
However, despite his impressive credentials, Dallas Mavericks fans were left wondering why their team would trade Luka Doncic for Davis. Doncic, a dynamic scorer who led the league with 33.9 points per game last season, has been named to the All-NBA team five times in a row and is still under 26 years old.
But that’s exactly what happened on Saturday night when the Mavericks traded Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick. The Utah Jazz were involved as a third team to facilitate the deal, receiving Jalen Hood-Schifino and two second-round picks, one from the Clippers and one from Dallas.
Dallas general manager Nico Harrison explained that the Mavericks were motivated by Doncic’s struggles on defense, and they believe Davis’ defensive ability would help them improve as they push for a playoff spot. The Mavericks were swept by the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals last June.
“I believe that defense wins championships,” Harrison said. “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.”
The Mavericks were also frustrated with Doncic’s focus on conditioning. While he’s listed at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, he reportedly weighed more than 260 pounds early in the season.
His weight raised concerns about his injury risk, like the calf strain he suffered on Christmas Day in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Doncic has missed most of the season, playing only 22 games, but he’s expected to return by the All-Star break.
Harrison and head coach Jason Kidd will likely face many questions about the trade.
“Luka getting traded from Dallas has to have a deeper story behind it,” said Tristan Thompson of the Cleveland Cavaliers on X (formerly Twitter). “This just doesn’t happen on a random Saturday night.”
Thompson, who won an NBA title with LeBron James in Cleveland in 2016, speculated about James’ involvement in the trade. But ESPN reported that James wasn’t involved in the decision and found out about the deal while dining with his family after the Lakers’ win over the Knicks.
Both Doncic and Davis reportedly learned about the trade after the Mavericks and Lakers agreed to the deal.
Tim Cowlishaw, a sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News, wrote that the trade doesn’t make sense and repeats a pattern from the past.
“I will say it now and I will say it again 48 hours from now: There is something missing here,” Cowlishaw said. “There has to be some element of this trade not yet reported, some bizarre set of facts that led Harrison and the Mavericks down this incredibly silly path.”
Cowlishaw pointed out that the Mavericks traded Jason Kidd when he was 23, before he became an eight-time All-Star. Kidd went on to have a successful career with Phoenix and New Jersey, even returning to Dallas to help the franchise win its first championship.
He was not yet the player he would become, but he was already showing signs of greatness, unlike Doncic, who has been a first-team All-NBA player until this injury-filled season.
Davis has been sidelined with an abdominal strain and is expected to miss at least a week. It’s unclear when he will play his first game for the Mavericks.
The Mavericks, currently in eighth place in the Western Conference, are set to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. They plan to field a starting lineup featuring guards Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson, forwards Davis and P.J. Washington, and center Daniel Gafford, with an injury-related substitution until Dereck Lively II returns from a foot injury.
Cowlishaw remained baffled by the trade:
“That’s right, a player six years older than Luka is now coming to Dallas, presumably to tag team with two other 30-somethings, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson, to lead this team to, what, a play-in game?
In a Western Conference where Oklahoma City, Houston, and Memphis will just run you off the floor with their youth and athleticism, the Mavericks are seeking to win based on memories of a decade ago,” he wrote.
