It's been almost nine months since the blockbuster trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers and Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks , two superstars with completely different skill sets who were both caught off guard, as both were arguably top 10 players in the league at the time.
From the Lakers ' perspective, they gave up a player who was just as responsible for the "Orlando bubble" championship as Finals MVP LeBron James , while Luka Magic had led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals just a season earlier.
Behind the scenes, Rob Pelinka and Nico Harrison , the GMs of their respective teams, negotiated the deal and both agreed that it was the move their teams needed. When Shams Charania broke the news on X, Bronny James was the first to see it and sent it to the Lakers group chat.
" Did these n—as just trade me ?" AD responded in disbelief, as stated in the "A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers", a book written by Yaron Weitzman.
It wasn't a surprise that AD was shocked, because after a long stretch of good health, where he missed only six games the season before and only five before the trade, he had been playing MVP and DPOY level of basketball. Before the trade he averaged 25.7 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.3 steals while shooting 52.9 percent from the field.
At the time of trade, the Lakers were 28-19, sitting fifth in the West and just behind the second-place Houston Rockets . They looked strong under head coach JJ Redick . Of course, when you have LBJ and AD, expectations are championship-level, despite the West being a battlefield, but they were playing well.
On the other side, Harrison was the one pushing to bring Davis to Mavs , convincing Pelinka to part with him. And how could you turn down a player who had been the league's scoring champ, WCF MVP, all while being six years younger than AD and yet to enter his prime?
Still, no matter how much of an upgrade Luka seems to be for any team, the Purple & Gold locker room was left in disbelief. One of those players was Austin Reaves , who recalled the shocking night of the trade .
"I pulled my phone up, [and] AD said, 'They traded me,'" Reaves recalled . "If anybody knows AD… he jokes around a lot. So literally, I laughed and I put my phone down. I was like, 'What the f—ck?' He was like, 'It's real.' I was like, 'Why do you know that?' He was like, 'I'm sitting by Max Christie.' And I was like, oh s—t, this is actually real."
From today's perspective, it's hard to say who won the trade as it depends on how the Slovenian guard continues to play. In the season opener against the Golden State Warriors , he dropped 43 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, becoming the first Laker since Kobe Bryant in 2007 to score 40 or more points in the first game of the season.
Meanwhile, AD was dominant at his Mavericks debut with 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks last season, only to get injured in the third quarter. Critics were quick to point out that this has been the story of his career: one of the league's best players, but one who can't seem to stay healthy.
Harrison, who believed Doncic's unhealthy lifestyle and conditioning might lead to long-term injuries, quickly got a taste of the highs and lows that come with a 6-foot-11 center, something fans wasted no time reminding him of.
Still, even with Kyrie Irving , despite both being in their 30s, Harrison's vision was clear. But with Irving tearing his ACL and his return uncertain, and with Klay Thompson not getting any younger, Dallas' championship window looks tight, despite drafting a generational talent like Cooper Flagg .
If the Irving-Davis era ends up defined by injuries, Harrison could go down as the man behind one of the worst trades in the history of the league.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Oct 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
