LUKA Doncic led Dallas to the NBA Finals last season. Anthony Davis won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers. They’re switching teams now — in an absolute blockbuster.
Doncic is being traded by the reigning Western Conference champion, Mavericks, to the Los Angeles Lakers for Davis, a person with knowledge of the agreement said early Sunday.

Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris are headed to the Lakers, while Davis and Max Christie are going to Dallas, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither team can announce the deal while it awaits league approval.
The Utah Jazz also is involved in the deal, said the source. ESPN, which first reported the trade, said Jalen Hood-Schifino and two draft picks will be headed to the Jazz. The Dallas Morning News also reported those details on the trade.

The trade news broke about an hour after the Lakers beat New York at Madison Square Garden. Davis was not with the Lakers for the game; he has been back in Los Angeles because of an abdominal injury that needed assessing.
Doncic has not played for Dallas since Christmas Day, when he was sidelined with a strained left calf.

“I believe that defence wins championships,” Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison told ESPN. “I believe that getting an All-Defensive centre and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We’re built to win now and in the future.”
The deal, at least for now, would pair Doncic with LeBron James as the new 1-2 punch in Los Angeles, while Davis would be forming a new star duo with Kyrie Irving in Dallas. And it also reunites Doncic with his former teammate, Lakers coach JJ Redick.
Doncic was one of the Mavs on the floor when Redick came out of a game for the final time on May 11, 2021.

There was one game still going on in the NBA on Saturday night when reports began swirling of the trade, that being Phoenix-Portland. Suns guard Devin Booker said someone in the stands told him and his teammates of the trade.
“They said Luka. I said, `Luka Garza?”‘ Booker said, referencing a Minnesota centre.

Booker wasn’t trying to be funny. He just thought what many probably thought — that there was no way the Mavericks would move Doncic.
Dallas plays at Cleveland on Sunday, while the Lakers are off until visiting the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. It’s not clear when Doncic or Davis could play for their new clubs: the trade needs NBA approval, and both are dealing with injuries without any publicly known firm timetable for their return. (CBC Sports)