Very early into the morning on Sunday, the landscape of the NBA was completely shaken after an unexpected mega deal blockbuster. The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers completed a wild superstar trade swap centered between Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis.
There were a few other moving parts in this deal, including Dallas role players Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris. The Lakers included Max Christie and a 2029 first-round draft pick, along with the Utah Jazz getting involved as a third team to help facilitate.
This was a deal that had zero rumors or discussions leaked prior to it being finalized. In fact, plenty of NBA fans around the world initially believed that top NBA insider Shams Charania, who was the first to break the news, seemingly got hacked. Charania even had to tweet out shortly after to confirm the news was real.
Bam Adebayo was questioning the legitimacy of the headline just like the rest of the fans, along with his new Miami Heat All-Star teammate Tyler Herro sharing the same confusion.
Did somebody steal shams phone??
— 13am Adebayo (@Bam1of1) February 2, 2025
wtf ?????
— Tyler Herro (@raf_tyler) February 2, 2025
The blockbuster deal has already been described as the biggest superstar trade in NBA history.
It just goes to show how quickly things can materialize in this league and confirms the business side to basketball. Doncic was drafted by Dallas and played all his first seven seasons there, leading the team to multiple deep playoff runs during that time. The Mavericks were coming off their first NBA Finals berth in over a decade last season.
Davis on the other hand, showed zero signs of ever wanting to leave the LakeShow. He played six seasons in LA, and even secured a championship in his first year there alongside LeBron James in the 2020 bubble.
With the Feb. 6. 3:00 PM EST trade deadline now just days away, this Doncic-Davis mega swap could be just the first domino to fall. The following night, another multi-team deal that shipped De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs and Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings also went down.
Of course, there still remains Miami’s disgruntled Jimmy Butler situation stuck in limbo.
Will the star forward be one of the next big names to move teams, or may the Heat have to start discussing a post-deadline roster that still features the checked out Butler?