“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. Three-team deal that includes Utah.”
Fans and NBA players were immediately skeptical, questioning how such a massive trade could happen. As other outlets quickly confirmed the news, people began processing the unexpected trade involving two All-NBA players. One of them, Luka Doncic, is only 25 years old and led his team to the NBA Finals just last June.
The Mavericks confirmed the trade on Sunday morning. Utah also got Jalen Hood-Schifino and a 2025 second-round pick from the Lakers, with Dallas sending its own 2025 second-round pick to Utah.
Neither Anthony Davis nor Luka Doncic had commented on the trade by Sunday morning. As the news sunk in, NBA players started to share their thoughts, with some pointing out how unpredictable the league has become with the trade deadline approaching on Thursday.
“Gotta pack them bags just in case now a days,” tweeted CJ McCollum of the New Orleans Pelicans. “If the Don (Doncic) got traded, only lord knows.”
Phoenix’s Kevin Durant told reporters after the Suns’ loss to the Portland Trail Blazers that the trade shows how much the NBA is a business.
“Players are held to a different standard of loyalty and commitment to a program, but the organizations don’t get held to that same standard from the outside world,” Durant said, adding that this trade could lead to even more surprises.
“You see another team trade away somebody like that. This has got to be the biggest trade I’ve seen since I’ve been in the league or since I’ve been watching the sport. This is insane. So yeah, every other team might get confidence and say, ‘F— it, I’ll trade a few of my top players if this ain’t working.’”
It wasn’t just basketball players who were shocked.
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons summed up the reaction of many fans on social media: “Yoo wtf going on in Dallas?”
For Emmanuel Acho, a former NFL linebacker and current TV analyst, the news hit hard.
“As a Dallas native, who went to the Mavs’ first NBA finals in 2006 and the parade in 2011, I can confidently say trading prime Luka Doncic is one of the biggest mistakes in the history of sports. This is organizational malpractice. I am sick.”
