Inside the stunning Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade

Luka Doncic "was completely floored" when he learned that he had been traded to the Lakers, league sources tell Dallas-based NBA insider Marc Stein (Substack link).

Stein reiterates that Doncic did not request to be traded and confirms reporting from ESPN that the Mavericks had reservations about giving the Slovenian star a five-year supermax extension in the offseason due to his "conditioning, ability to stay healthy and his off-court commitments to those pursuits."

In an appearance on SportsCenter Saturday night, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst called the trade a "rebuke" of Doncic from the Mavericks’ perspective. While the primary focus from people around the league has been on Dallas’ end of the deal, Windhorst says LeBron James has "dreamed" of playing with Doncic, though it’s unclear how he feels about the move, given his close relationship with Anthony Davis.

As Stein writes, there had been whispers in the week leading up to perhaps the most shocking trade in NBA history that the Mavs were on the verge of making a deal, but rival teams weren’t sure what they were planning. GM Nico Harrison has a preexisting relationship with Davis and zeroed in on the 10-time All-Star as an ideal return package for Doncic.

According to Stein, Harrison "essentially" only had the Lakers in mind as a trade partner, in large part due to Davis. That choice of wording is interesting because league sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that "at least one other team" was approached by Dallas nearly two weeks ago about the prospect of trading Doncic for a different star. That offer was declined.

Amick’s story has several sourced details, particularly from the Lakers’ end. According to Amick, Lakers leadership has grown weary of James and Davis’ continual public requests for more on-court help. Amick also hears Los Angeles had concerns about Davis’ "durability and availability and a belief that he could never truly be counted on as a top option" going forward.

In a fascinating interview with Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News, Harrison said he approached Lakers head of basketball operations Rob Pelinka more than a month ago to have "basketball" conversations. Harrison noted that the two had known each other for a couple of decades from their previous jobs when Harrison was a Nike executive and Pelinka was a player agent.

"Then all of a sudden we’re like, 'Would you ever do this?'"

"'Nah, you’re joking, right?'"

"'Hmm. Interesting. Maybe I would.'"

"And then it just built over time over the last three weeks," Harrison told Townsend.

Harrison admitted Doncic’s contract situation was a primary motivating factor in making the trade. Doncic will no longer be eligible for an extension worth 35 percent of the salary cap this summer after being moved; the most he can make now is 30 percent.

"We really feel like we got ahead of what was going to be a tumultuous summer, him being eligible for the super-max and also a year away from him being able to opt out of any contract," Harrison said. "And so we really felt like we got out in front of that. We know teams, they’ve had it out there, teams have been loading up to try to sign him once that comes available."

He also said he hasn’t had direct communication with Doncic since the news broke, having talked to his agent Bill Duffy. His text and phone call to Doncic went unanswered, with Harrison telling Townsend, "My guess is he probably doesn’t want to talk to me."

Davis has publicly said multiple times he views himself as more of a power forward rather than a center. Harrison told Townsend that while Davis will likely finish games in the middle, he will also play alongside Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II when the latter returns from an ankle fracture, pointing to Cleveland (Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen) as an example of a two-big pairing that has been successful.

Here’s more on the blockbuster trade:

• James has a full no-trade clause, but both Stein and Amick write that the four-time MVP must be evaluating whether he’s still determined to finish his career in Los Angeles after the trade. According to Amick, there was an expectation that James would decline his $52.6M player option for 2025-26 in the offseason to seek another contract, but it’s unclear if the Lakers would be willing to offer it.
• Sources tell Stein that the first time Harrison and Pelinka talked about trading Doncic for Davis was in person on Jan. 7, when the Lakers were in Dallas to play the Mavs. League insider Chris Haynes hears the Lakers contacted Davis’ agent Rich Paul sometime after they heard the offer, viewing Doncic as a long-term replacement for James.
• After the trade was completed, Pelinka made three phone calls, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin: the first was a joint call with Davis and head coach JJ Redick; the second was a call to Paul; and the third to James. McMenamin also hears from sources that Davis chose to waive his trade kicker for multiple reasons, one being that he wants to sign an extension with Dallas in the future.
• According to Stein, Doncic had been targeting Feb. 8 as his return date from a left calf strain before the trade. The five-time All-NBA guard has been out with the injury since Christmas.
• Doncic’s now-former teammate Kyrie Irving was also "stunned" by the deal that will send Davis, Max Christie and the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick to the Mavericks, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reports.
• Both the Lakers and Mavericks are expected to continue to be active in trade talks leading up to Thursday’s deadline, according to Stein, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press and Christian Clark of The Athletic. "Everybody knows the Lakers are trying to do more even after this," a source told Reynolds.
• In a full story for The Athletic, Clark takes a look at Harrison’s history of making major roster moves at three consecutive deadlines. John Hollinger of The Athletic views the trade as a potential disaster for the Mavs, given the ages and injury histories of Irving and Davis. Hollinger speculates that Doncic could sign a short-term extension with the Lakers in the offseason to maximize his future earnings.
• Mavs fans were understandably heartbroken by the trade, writes Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News. "I’m hoping to wake up from a bad dream," one fan said. "You have the most talented Mavericks team in Mavericks history and you have Luka right here. It’s like, 'Boom.' We just went to the finals, we finally get this team around him, it’s all right here, and then you trade him? It’s the biggest joke ever."