Former Suns GM Ryan McDonough breaks down the Lakers' outlook after exchanging Anthony Davis for Luka Dončić in a blockbuster trade.
• Get NBA League Pass TODAY
• 2024-25 Trade Tracker: Every official deal
In a surprising blockbuster trade early Sunday morning, the Dallas Mavericks traded All-NBA guard Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for All-NBA forward/center Anthony Davis.
What does this trade mean for the Lakers, this season and beyond?
> Trending Topics: How will Luka Dončić impact Lakers?
Steve Aschburner
The Lakers won this deal. And not just on the standard scale of “The team that lands the better player usually wins the trade.” Getting Dončić is a huge W for this season, for next season, for years into the future, for marketing, for international appeal, and for relevancy in the modern NBA. In my eyes, the Slovenian guard had a better case for inclusion on the honorary Top 75 list than Anthony Davis and that was three years ago. That’s even more evident since.
Dončić is a do-everything offensive star capable of being the best player and leader of a championship team. Davis is not. The Lakers’ fit might be a little off unless LeBron James relinquishes control of the ball and his stats-hunting. For now, this feels like a reverse version of Milwaukee’s famous 1970 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-Oscar Robertson trade, only with the young franchise star moving to the aging legend’s town. The torch that AD never seemed to want needs to get passed immediately from James to Dončić for the Lakers to get traction on this ASAP.
Brian Martin
The Lakers may have sacrificed their current success for visions of the future. This deal came just hours after the Lakers beat the Knicks at Madison Square Garden for their eighth win in 10 games to climb within a game of fourth in the West. But now, the Lakers face several questions entering trade deadline week:
- When will Dončić return from the calf strain that has sidelined him since Christmas?
- Once he does return, how long will the learning curve be to implement a new primary ball handler?
- What moves might the Lakers make before Thursday’s deadline to bolster their frontline after losing Davis?
Despite those questions, this was a no-brainer move for the Lakers, a franchise built on acquiring stars. Dončić adds his name to the likes of fellow only-one-name-needed legends like Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, Pau and LeBron who joined the Lakers at some point in their careers.
The Lakers now have their superstar succession plan from the LeBron era to the Dončić era — adding a 25-year-old phenom, with five 1st Team All-NBAs already on his resume, who is just entering the prime of his career.
Shaun Powell
With a rare chance to add a generational talent, the Lakers figured to get him and figure the rest out later. The focus of this team suddenly shifts to next season and beyond — this season is finished as a title contender, if the Lakers ever were.
The next decision lies with LeBron James. Is he in, or out? It’s his choice — he has a no-trade, and an opt-out this summer. At 40, he’ll probably conclude his limited future is best spent elsewhere. The Warriors are on Line 1.
John Schuhmann
The picture for this season is a little murkier than it was two days ago. Luka Dončić is coming back from an injury and probably not in the best shape. The Lakers have a slew of power forwards, but don’t have a starting-caliber center that can match up with Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić, Clippers’ Ivica Zubac or … Anthony Davis. They were a bottom-10 defensive team with Davis on the roster and they’re probably not going to improve on that end of the floor without him.
Long-term, the Lakers have a franchise cornerstone for the next several years. Dončić should be fairly easy to build around and other good players probably wouldn’t mind moving to L.A. to complement the Lakers’ newest star.
