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🏀 Good morning to all, but especially to …
THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS
A trade so shocking the reporter who broke it had to ensure us he wasn’t hacked. A trade so wild other NBA stars couldn’t comprehend it. A trade so extraordinary that it actually is unprecedented — a word we throw around a lot, but this time we mean it, by definition.
Late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, the Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, the first ever midseason swap of reigning All-NBA players. Here are the full details:
- Lakers receive: Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris
- Mavericks receive: Anthony Davis, Max Christie, Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick
- Jazz receive: Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2025 second-round pick via Clippers, Mavericks’ 2025 second-round pick
Yes, that’s all Dallas got in return for a 25-year-old superstar. But we’ll talk about them in a bit (guess which section!) because this section belongs to the Lakers. Let me put this to you as plainly as possible: Only Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain have a higher career scoring average than Doncic. He is an all-time great player already. And. He. Is. Only. 25.
He’s the present and the future. Los Angeles got an “A+” in Brad Botkin’s trade grades.
- Botkin: “Factoring in both age and production, the Lakers just scored what is probably the most coveted basketball player in the world not named Victor Wembanyama. Doncic is only 25 years old. To land a player this good and this young in a trade is absolutely bonkers. You honestly might never see a score again like this in your lifetime.”
This is basically a “get out of jail free” card for a team that was still figuring out its post-LeBron James plans as those days get increasingly closer. They got their answer in one trade that cost them shockingly little.
Even if the Luka-LeBron pairing doesn’t work in the short term, the Lakers have a superstar for the long term, assuming they extend Doncic (potentially at below-market price). In five years, James’ career will be over, Davis’ career might be over … and Doncic will still be in his prime as one of the game’s greatest offensive talents.
Oh yeah, and if the Lakers want to push the envelope short-term, they still have the means to do so.
I am gobsmacked (I tried to find the right word for a long time). These trades just don’t happen. Colin Ward-Henninger graded the winners and losers, and pretty much all the winners are on Los Angeles’ side.
Wow. Just wow.
👍 Honorable mentions
😬 And not such a good morning for …
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THE DALLAS MAVERICKS
Oh man. Where do we begin? The Mavericks are being clowned everywhere, and lifelong fans are, rightfully, inconsolable. Apoplectic, even. This is Luka Doncic, the guy who just led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals! Luka Doncic, the guy who has authored some of the greatest playoff moments ever — only Jordan has a high postseason scoring average. Luka Doncic, a franchise all by himself, who thought he’d always be a Maverick.
How did GM Nico Harrison not talk to Doncic? How did Harrison not speak to teams other than the Lakers? There certainly would have been much, much better offers out there.
And how is Harrison reacting like this, saying defense wins championships one moment and then saying “Ten years from now, they’ll probably bury me” the next? How could you even admit to the latter?
How, how, how?! Sure, I get that Doncic hasn’t been in great shape and has been injury-prone. I get that, if you look closely, maybe you can make a case the Mavericks are better this season.
If the person who made the trade is already willing to accept the blame, he shouldn’t have made the trade. The Mavericks got an “F” in Brad’s trade grades, and Jasmyn Wimbish says it’s complete malpractice.
- Wimbish: “You simply don’t trade a guy who is considered one of the three best basketball players in the world when there was no reason to. It’s malpractice. And even if you can justify the act of trading Doncic, you certainly don’t do it ‘in the shadows.’ You also don’t consult just one team. You start a bidding war. You sell to the highest bidder, you squeeze every ounce of value out of this trade and try and come out on the other side with a package that will not just set you up for the next two, three years, but for the next decade.”
As Jasmyn notes, the Nets got five first-round picks for Mikal Bridges this summer. In 2022, the Jazz got three firsts, two pick swaps and three young players for Donovan Mitchell months after getting four firsts, a swap and several players for Rudy Gobert. I just cannot understand it. Maybe you squeeze a few competitive years out of the Kyrie Irving-Davis tandem. Maybe. And if that’s the goal, here’s where Dallas goes from here. But that’s an extremely underwhelming goal in exchange for one of the game’s most overwhelming forces.
Here’s more fallout:
👎 Not so honorable mentions
🏀 Spurs acquire De’Aaron Fox, Kings get Zach LaVine in three-team trade
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Once the blockbusters start, they apparently don’t stop. De’Aaron Fox is heading to the Spurs and Zach LaVine is heading to the Kings in another huge three-team deal over the weekend.
- Spurs get: De’Aaron Fox, Jordan McLaughlin
- Kings get: LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first-round picks (2025 via Hornets, 2027 via Spurs, 2031 via Timberwolves)
- Bulls get: Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, their own 2025 first-round pick from Spurs
Fox popped up on the trade market recently after he declined an extension over the summer, and now he’s heading to his preferred destination: San Antonio, where he’ll form a thrilling tandem with Wembanyama. That the Spurs did this without giving up guys such as Stephon Castle, Davin Vassell or Keldon Johnson makes for an easy “A” in Sam Quinn’s trade grades.
- Quinn: “Right now, the Spurs not only have Wembanyama, the future face of the league, and Fox, a worthy All-Star sidekick for him, but they basically still have everything else they need to build a dynasty. All of their young talent. All of their cap flexibility while those young players are on below-market rookie-scale deals. Most of their draft capital. … Literally any roster-building path is available to San Antonio right now. If the Spurs want to trade for a third star, they can do so. If the Spurs want to emphasize depth around the Wembanyama-Fox duo, they can do so. If the Spurs want to simply remain opportunistic and grab players they like when the opportunity arises, they can do so.”
Things were not quite as peachy for Sacramento and Chicago.
🏈 Super Bowl LIX: Burning questions, bold predictions
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Super Bowl week gets underway with Opening Night tonight, and the Chiefs and Eagles are plenty comfortable with it: The Chiefs are here for the fifth time in six seasons, the Eagles the third time in eight.
There are many reasons these two franchises are back, but for the Chiefs, it all comes back to Patrick Mahomes. And an intriguing subplot is emerging, Jordan Dajani notes in his five burning questions.
- Dajani: “In the AFC Championship vs. the Bills, Mahomes rushed a career-high 11 times for 43 yards and two touchdowns. Mahomes rushed for at least 44 yards in his last two Super Bowls, including in the overtime victory against the 49ers last year, when he led the Chiefs with 66 rushing yards on nine carries. On the game-winning drive in that matchup, Mahomes picked up a first down with his legs on a fourth-and-1, and a third-and-1. The Eagles need to contain Mahomes the scrambler.”
Looking back on this season, 25 quarterbacks had at least 15 scrambles. You know who had the best success rate on them? Mahomes at 76%. Yup, that’s better than Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen or Jayden Daniels or Super Bowl adversary Jalen Hurts.
Here’s more:
🏀 No. 2 Duke crushes North Carolina; John Calipari beats No. 12 Kentucky in return
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Normally, Duke vs. North Carolina is the main event. This weekend, it kind of felt like just another game. The No. 2 Blue Devils breezed past their rivals, 87-70, with Cooper Flagg filling up the stat sheet and earning top marks in Isaac Trotter’s player grades. I thought Kyle Boone summarized this one nicely:
- Boone: “Eleven miles and two realities separate the Blue Devils and Tar Heels this season: Duke has an argument as the best team in the game, while North Carolina is continuing its every-other-year trend of life on the NCAA Tournament bubble.”
It was far from just another game in Lexington, Kentucky, where John Calipari returned for the first time as Arkansas coach. And while he was booed mercilessly, he got the last laugh in the Razorbacks’ 89-79 win over No. 12 Kentucky, his former program. It’s been a tough debut year for Calipari with the Razorbacks, but this one must have felt good.
As for notable results elsewhere …
- Struggling Kansas State thumped No. 3 Iowa State, 80-61 in Ames, ending the Cyclones’ 29-game home winning streak. The Cyclones have adjustments to make, Isaac writes.
- No. 8 Tennessee blasted No. 5 Florida, 64-44 despite missing multiple key players. It’s the largest win over a top-five team in Volunteer history.
- Despite top scorer JT Toppin and coach Grant McCasland getting ejected, No. 22 Texas Tech beat No. 6 Houston, 82-81, in overtime, halting the Cougars’ 33-game home winning streak. The Red Raiders rose to 15th in Gary Parrish’s Top 25 And 1 and to 14th in Kyle Boone’s Tomorrow’s Top 25 Today.
- USC topped No. 7 Michigan State 70-64, putting Eric Musselman and co. among our weekend’s biggest winners.
- No. 11 Kansas blew a 21-point lead — the largest blown lead in school history — against shorthanded Baylor, losing 81-70. The Jayhawks are on track to make the wrong type of history, Matt Norlander notes.
The upsets weren’t limited to the men’s side, with Iowa taking down No. 4 USC, 76-69, on the day of Caitlin Clark‘s jersey retirement. A’ja Wilson also had her jersey retired, and her alma mater, No. 2 South Carolina, won as well.
And last but not least, we had a double-ejection headbutting incident!
⚾ Fay Vincent dies at 86
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Fay Vincent, MLB commissioner from 1989-92, died Sunday morning due to complications from bladder cancer. He was 86.
Despite his short tenure in charge, Vincent oversaw several defining events for the sport, including …
- The 1990 lockout
- Continuing Pete Rose‘s ban
- Banning George Steinbrenner
- The 1989 World Series resuming after the Loma Prieta earthquake
- The eventual NL expansion to include the Rockies and Marlins
“Mr. Vincent served the game during a time of many challenges, and he remained proud of his association with our National Pastime throughout his life,” commissioner Rob Manfred said as part of a statement.
📺 What we’re watching Monday
🏀 No. 10 Duke at No. 17 NC State (W), 7 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 Rockets at Knicks, 7:30 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 Unrivaled, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏈 Super Bowl Opening Night, 8 p.m. on NFL Network
🏀 No. 3 Iowa State at No. 11 Kansas (M), 9 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Magic at Warriors, 10 p.m. on NBA TV
