Luka Doncic is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Let's not bury the lede. This was a blockbuster trade of seismic proportions, one that happened late Saturday night and without any notice whatsoever. The Dallas Mavericks soured on their relationship with Doncic, a perennial MVP candidate and unquestioned Top-5 player in the league, and privately decided to trade him.
So privately, in fact, that they only contacted one team about one player. Dallas GM Nico Harrison called the Lakers, offered Doncic for Anthony Davis, and a deal got done. Doncic didn't know it was coming. Davis didn't know it was coming. LeBron didn't know it was coming.
LeBron changing teams has always come with a lot of fanfare, and to some extent they were telegraphed; rumblings and whispers and educated guesses seeping out ahead of time. LeBron leaving the Cavaliers may have been painful, but it wasn't a complete shock out of nowhere. Those decisions were also decidedly ones he made as the star. This decision was not made by LeBron or by the two stars involved.
As the NBA world processes the move, let's pivot to the Cleveland Cavaliers. How does this deal between Western Conference rivals affect the Cavs? Let's look at three impacts of this seismic move and what they mean for Cleveland now and moving forward.
No. 1: No Mavericks or Lakers in the Finals
The Cleveland Cavaliers will face a difficult task emerging from the Eastern Conference playoffs. The defending champion Boston Celtics will be a formidable opponent, and teams like the New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers will be in the mix. It's no guarantee that Cleveland is going to make it through, especially in their first deep run together.
Yet they are certainly in the inner circle of teams likely to make it to the NBA Finals, and so the potential teams they could face in that matchup are meaningful. After this blockbuster trade, it now appears likely that whoever is across from Cleveland in June, it will not be either of the Dallas Mavericks or Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers were always a longshot despite their solid record, as they boast a negative point differential and didn't have the rotation pieces to truly challenge and overcome the best teams in the West. After making this trade, while they undeniably won the deal and are set up with an MVP candidate for years to come, their roster just doesn't make sense in the present.
The Lakers' three best players are all on-ball perimeter stars in LeBron James, Doncic and Austin Reaves. Their center situation is now as bad as anyone in the NBA. And with Doncic still nursing his calf injury and presumably not in shape, the ramp-up period will be significant. The Lakers are set up for the future, but in the present a sneakily mediocre team is now worse.
The Dallas Mavericks, on the other hand, were absolutely a dark horse NBA Finals team. They made it last season, after all, and when you have a player like Luka Doncic you're always a threat to win a playoff series. Their roster had depth and versatility, Kyrie Irving is playing as well as he has in years, and if they could get their key pieces healthy this was a group that could have made a run.
Now they have swapped a Top-5 player for a Top 10-15 one, an injury-prone non-shooting center who joins a roster with...two other non-shooting centers. The long-term fit of Davis, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II is atrocious, but in the short-term it isn't doing the Mavericks any favors, either. Dallas won't be making it back to the NBA Finals this year, and not for a very long time.
No. 2: Center market will be frothy
The Los Angeles Lakers now need a starting center; Jaxson Hayes isn't going to cut it. They need one for defensive purposes, as their perimeter defense took a hit with this deal and someone needs to be defending the back line. More so, they need a lob threat on offense, someone to take advantage of one of Luka Doncic's greatest strengths as a player.
The Cavaliers weren't shopping for a starting center; they have two of their own. But they do need a backup big, and the trickle-down effect in the market could affect them. If the Lakers now go out and trade for a center, the team that would have ended up with him now has to look further downstream, and you could get a domino effect where the Cavs are either paying more for the player they want or missing out entirely.
No. 3: LeBron's future is uncertain
The Los Angeles Lakers just traded a Klutch star without telling him, his agent or LeBron James; that's at least how it appears at the moment. James recruited Davis to join him in Los Angeles, and his desire to play alongside Luka Doncic is a massive unknown. The on-court fit is certainly not as harmonious as you would like as a Lakers fan.
There is a non-zero chance that LeBron James decides it's time to move on himself. That possibility has been rumored for years, of course, with James linked to the Dallas Mavericks himself at one point, as well as the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors or even the Cleveland Cavaliers.
That's because the Cavaliers have to be mentioned any time LeBron changing teams is mentioned. The Akron native has already returned to the franchise once; he's not only the greatest player in franchise history, he's the greatest Ohio athlete of all time. He still maintains deep connections with the Cleveland area.
We did the math on what a LeBron James trade could look like right now; you can check out that piece here. Past this season, however, it seems all the more likely LeBron will not end his career with the Lakers, which means a Cleveland return has to be considered.
The full extent of the shockwaves of this trade are still to be mapped out. A blockbuster deal, out of nowhere, with the Trade Deadline still five days away. What else will the NBA have in store for us this week?