The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks exchanged All-NBA players recently in a three-team trade that also included the Utah Jazz. Luka Doncic is the newest star for the Lakers while Anthony Davis is the newest star for the Mavericks.
While the trade happened only a few days ago, there seems to be a belief that the Lakers got the better of the deal. Doncic is only 25 years old and gives the Lakers a player to build around in the future after their time with LeBron James comes to an end.
But contrary to popular opinion, former Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony seems to think the trade was good for both the Lakers and Mavericks.
“It’s a really, really good trade, right?” Anthony said. “… They’re (the Mavericks) gonna be better differently than they were before because now, what A.D. been complaining about, ‘I want to play the 4. I need a 5 over here with me.’ He got that. … He got two athletic 5s that’s down there, so you ain’t gotta worry about doing all of that.
“You got Klay over there. People forget about Klay. You still got Kyrie now. Now, Kyrie is the lead guard in a situation that, we have an opportunity to go out there and win. We had an opportunity with Luka to go out there and win, but something was gon’ have to happen between the two of them.”
The reigning Western Conference champions still project to be a force to be reckoned with even with Doncic gone. Before he was traded to the Mavericks, Davis contributed a whole lot on both ends to one of the top teams in the West.
He was maybe the Lakers’ best scorer and defender this season, as he led the team in points and blocked shots per game. Along with his elite scoring prowess and defensive chops, he’s also a player who rebounds the ball at a high level. Davis has pulled down 10.7 rebounds per game for his NBA career and averaged 11.9 in 42 games with the Lakers this season.
Additionally, while Doncic is no longer a Maverick, Davis isn’t the only solidified star on the team. As Anthony mentioned, Dallas still has Irving and some other nice pieces.
Dallas has much of its core still intact from when it represented the West in the NBA Finals in 2024 and lost to the Boston Celtics in the championship series.
If the Mavericks can make another deep run in the 2025 NBA Playoffs with Irving and Davis as the team’s new dynamic duo, that would seemingly help to quiet some of the noise suggesting that Dallas made the wrong move by dealing Doncic.
