Nico Harrison pulled off one of the most stunning trades in NBA history, sending beloved Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package including Anthony Davis and Max Christie. Almost immediately, everyone was shocked, with a lot of NBA historians calling it the most surprising trade in NBA history.

The Trail Blazers would likely want to make room to have more minutes for Donovan Clingan, who they recently selected early in the 2024 NBA Draft. For the Lakers, meanwhile, Ayton could have at least some tangible valuable as a player who has postseason experience and tremendous size on the inside.

Doncic, who had dragged an otherwise unremarkable Mavericks team through the Western Conference, became the face of their failure. Dallas coach Jason Kidd was forced to come out and defend his maligned star, even though without Doncic, the Mavericks were a faded Kyrie Irving and a bunch of role players.