One of the biggest trades in recent NBA history went down over the weekend.

The Dallas Mavericks acquired star center Anthony Davis, young role player Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick. In return, the Los Angeles Lakers received their own star in Luka Doncic, along with Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris. 

The third team in the trade was the Utah Jazz. They received a young guard with Jalen Hood-Schifino from the Lakers and two second-round picks – one from the Mavericks and one from the Clippers. 

The Mavericks are the losers in this situation because they lost their young franchise player and they didn’t really get the same amount in return. The Mavericks’ star players are now a 32-year-old Kyrie Irving, who is past his prime, and a 31-year-old Anthony Davis, who has proven he cannot stay healthy. 

The fifth-place Lakers are now set up to make a deep run into the playoffs with Lebron James, who is still playing incredible for being 40 years old. Along with James and Doncic, they have multiple good young pieces in Dalton Knecht and Austin Reaves. 

The biggest question with this whole trade is why the Mavericks would do it. 

They had arguably a top-three player with Doncic, they still have a good supporting cast, and they were coming off of an NBA Finals appearance. Now it looks like they have to set up for a rebuild, because they don’t have a young superstar like all of the other contenders now. 

Meanwhile, the Lakers are shaping up to be a top team in the West for years to come. They usually draft well, they are a relatively young team now headlined by Doncic, and James could still play for another five years.