
Amid swirling NBA rumors ahead of the trade deadline regarding potential deals for All-Star Jimmy Butler and De’Aaron Fox, the Dallas Mavericks stunned the basketball world on Saturday night with the Luka Doncic trade. Not since Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors in free agency has the NBA world been this shell-shocked by a move. In a trade that will have ripple effects on the NBA for over a decade, here are the winners and losers from the Anthony Davis-Luka Doncic trade.
Related: Explaining why the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers
Winner: The NBA and commission Adam Silver

No one around the league was aware of this coming except the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks, but the NBA league office and Commissioner Adam Silver will be celebrating for the rest of the month. Amid all the discourse over NBA TV ratings, all the debate about what changes need to be made to draw more fans in, the NBA just landed a proverbial golden goose.
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Doncic, once healthy, gives the Lakers their new face of the franchise who the NBA can put on national TV every single week it wants. The game is most popular with the best NBA players suiting up in the biggest markets, Doncic in Los Angeles provides that perfect pairing. The pure shock from the sports world will make Doncic’s Lakers debut one of the highest-rated NBA games this season and it will likely challenge NBA playoff games for TV viewership. Long-term, the NBA has one of its three biggest superstars with arguably its most important franchise in terms of market and brand. This is simply a gold mine for the league.
Loser: Mark Cuban

In 2023, Mark Cuban sold his controlling interest in the Dallas Mavericks to billionaire Miriam Adelson – Adelson’s family net worth is $32.4 billion – for a deal valued at north of $4 billion. While he remains the alternate governor with a 27 percent stake in the team and was previously thought to still have some control over basketball operations, this proves otherwise.
The Mavericks’ decision, per NBA insider Marc Stein, was led by general manager Nico Harrison with the Adelson family giving the final approval. As of now, it appears Cuban didn’t have much to do with this deal at all. Trading Doncic, only 25 years old, will likely have a negative impact on the Mavericks’ franchise value. That won’t necessarily impact Cuban and maybe this team will find a way to win a championship immediately, but Cuban;s team just traded away its young superstar he seemed to love.
Winner: Luka Doncic

There are a variety of NBA rumors indicating the reasons the Dallas Mavericks traded away Luka Doncic. Among them was a fear that he would decline his player option in 2026 and bolt in NBA free agency. It would’ve meant turning down a supermax contract offer ($345 million over 5 years), Dallas just took that off the table anyway with this trade.
- Luka Doncic contract (Spotrac): $43.031 million salary in 2025, $45.999 million salary for 2025-’26,$48.967 million player option in 2026
Now, Doncic gets added motivation as he joins the Lakers. Firstly, that means getting to play with his idol LeBron James. The Mavericks’ concerns regarding Doncic’s durability resulted in him now landing with a mentor renowned for having one of the best work ethics in NBA history. It’s also worth revisiting what Doncic told Mina Kimes of ESPN ahead of the 2018 NBA Draft, that he fell in love with Los Angeles visited it and found it all amazing. He gets everything he wants with this trade and he didn’t even have to ask for it, Dallas did it unprompted.
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Loser: The Dallas Mavericks’ future

The Dallas Mavericks traded a 25-year-old superstar who almost single-handedly carried the team to the NBA Finals for a perennial All-Star forward in Anthony Davis who will be 32 years old in March. Dallas had injury concerns with Doncic, but Davis (250) has played in fewer games than Doncic (289) since 2020. Furthermore, Doncic has played in 65-plus games in four consecutive seasons until this year, while Davis has cleared 55 games played just once over the last five years.
- Dallas Mavericks future draft picks: 2025 1st, 2026 1st, 2019 1st (LAL), 2031 1st
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That’s not the only concerning thing for the Mavericks’ future. Dallas doesn’t have outright control over its first-round picks from 2027-2030, with the Charlotte Hornets (2027), Oklahoma City Thunder (2028), Houston Rockets/Brooklyn Nets (2029), and San Antonio Spurs (2030) holding either swap rights or outright control over those selections. This is a bafflingly short-sighted trade for Dallas.
Winner: The Los Angeles Lakers

Perhaps the most stunning element of this Luka Doncic trade is the fact that the Mavericks approached the Lakers about the deal. While reports say the Lakers front office spent some time thinking it over, the fact that neither LeBron James nor Anthony Davis were informed about the deal tells you how quickly Los Angeles pulled the trigger.
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Already 40 years old, LeBron is nearing retirement and the Lakers had no viable path to a true franchise-altering superstar and face of the league to acquire in the future. Then, the Mavericks called. Whether it’s luck, collusion or some other unknown force, the Lakers got their next icon and they didn’t have to part with Dalton Knecht, Austin Reaves or multiple first-round picks.
Loser: Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison

The moment NBA news broke that Doncic was traded to the Lakers, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison immediately started putting out his justification for it. Beyond the leaks to the media – questioning Doncic’s commitment to staying in shape and whether or not he’s a championship-caliber player – Harrison emphasized the importance of defense.
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However, there’s also a reason he’s being ridiculed by his peers. Harrison reportedly never made any real effort. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported on Saturday night’ SportsCenter that the Mavericks “didn’t even get the entire package from the Lakers” and he didn’t let other teams know the perennial MVP candidate was on the trade block. The Mavericks also got considerably older. If Dallas doesn’t win the championship in the next two years, Harrison could be fired and it’s hard to imagine any franchise – especially owners who value ticket and merchandise sales – will ever let him be a GM again.
Winner: Anthony Davis

Anthony Davis is one of the biggest winners from this trade. He made it clear for the Lakers for years that he wasn’t particularly comfortable playing the center position, but Los Angeles never landed a quality starter there. In joining Dallas, he will get to return to his natural position and stay there long-term with Dereck Lively II playing the five. Insider Marc Spears reported that Davis is “good” with the trade, also in part because he has a good relationship with Nicco Harrison. Davis gets to play the position he wanted and he’ll pair beautifully with Kyrie Irving, all while competing for a championship. The Mavericks lost this trade, but Davis came out on top in a big way.
- Anthony Davis stats (ESPN): 25.7 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 3.4 APG, 2.1 BPG, 1.3 SPG, 52.8% FG
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Loser: LeBron James…for now

For the time being, LeBron James is also a ‘loser’ in this blockbuster trade. For one thing, Doncic’s arrival means LeBron has far less power moving forward in the Lakers’ organization and that could be very detrimental to Bronny James’ NBA future. Secondly, the Lakers will now be one of the worst teams in the NBA defensively and their only big man is Jaxson Hayes (5.3 PPG and 4.0 RPG). More moves could be coming at the NBA trade deadline, but for right now, James’ championship hopes are even worse right now. Again, though, Los Angeles could change things at the deadline but this is more a trade for the future of the franchise.
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