The Los Angeles Lakers pulled off arguably the most shocking trade in NBA history when they acquired Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis last month. Though the Mavericks initially approached the Lakers about the trade, the Lakers had their own motivations for going through with the blockbuster deal.
Outside of the obvious—acquiring a generational talent in Doncic—Lakers owner Jeanie Buss opened up that the Lakers were not much different of a team than the one that has consistently lost to the Denver Nuggets in the postseason in recent years.
“We gave up a lot to get Luka Dončić,” Buss told NPR. “We’re happy we have him. We have lost the last three years in a row to the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs, and we really didn’t have anything that was going to look different going into the playoffs again. Anthony Davis was complaining about where he was being played and he wasn’t happy. So I think this was a positive for both teams. They got what they were looking for; we got what we were looking for.”
The Nuggets have certainly had the Lakers’ number over the last two seasons, knocking them out of the postseason in the Western Conference Finals in 2023 and the first round in 2024. In the Lakers’ first game against Denver since Doncic joined the team, they actually defeated the Nuggets 123–100 as Doncic scored 32 points with 10 rebounds and the Lakers managed to hold reigning MVP Nikola Jokic to just 12 points. Overall, the Lakers are 8–2 since Doncic’s debut, and now second in the Western Conference standings—ahead of the Nuggets.
The Doncic trade looks to be an early success for the Lakers, but contrary to what Buss said, it might not actually be a positive for the Mavericks as well. The Mavericks have gotten a massive amount of heat for trading the face of their franchise, and now can’t fall back on Doncic with much of their roster, including Davis, injured.
